Customer Reviews

Henry V (Arkangel Shakespeare)

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This rendering of Henry V is generally very well acted, with superb articulation by the actors. Compared to many film (and stage) versions of Shakespeare, where the actors seem to want to speak the lines as quickly as possible--seemingly because they feel that's how they should present emotion--and end up slurring the words together, the actors in this recording can communicate emotional range in a very articulate way, with excellent enunciation, well-placed pauses, and good modulation. The dialogue truly comes alive, and nuances unnoticed while reading come through clearly.

Another strong point is the evenness of the quality of the acting. All the characters, however minor or major, are played equally well, a sign of a well-directed play.

The music is at times a little sappy (for example during the St. Crispin Day's speech), but on the whole, if you want to really connect with spoken Shakespeare, it's hard to go wrong with this choice, either for teachers of Shakespeare or simple lovers of the bard.

The final play in Shakespeare's so-called first tetralogy, this is Shakespeare's 'action movie' play in many ways, and is better suited to a stage or film than an audio production. King Henry V is here played by the same actor (Jamie Glover) who played Hal in Arkangel's Henry IV (see my reviews of those), and now as king he alters his voice appropriately. He doesn't deliver the fiery war speeches with appropriate intensity ("Will you yield, and this avoid?" etc.), but is great in the scene where he walks unknown among the troops on the night before the battle.

The comic interludes are a bit flat compared to the Henry IV plays (Falstaff's presence is sorely missed), but the scene where Princess Katherine tries to learn English and finds it obscene is very funny. And despite my own distrust of the nation state, it's impossible not to be moved by the feeling of the English being underdogs, as vividly evoked by the Chorus (Brian Cox). When this was set, the nation state was still in its infancy though - and not in its dotage as currently.