Harington is charismatic as the title character, making this distressed character and unsympathetic king likable...Harington takes “Harry” from his boyish partying days into his power-hungry battle cries seamlessly, and there are few actors who can deliver a Shakespearean line as well as he.
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At any time, this production would look ill-considered and overblown, despite Harington’s impressive performance. Right now, it’s too much.
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Every performance is polished but Harington absolutely stands out...It is puzzling and grating – one of too many bells and whistles in a production where less might have been much more.
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...Webster’s is the first production I’ve ever seen to approach ‘Henry V’ as a great character study...Probably, he slightly flatters the play. But at the end of the day he gets away with it, in a broodingly impressive production.
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Henry V is immensely mutable: it’s not only what it has to tell us, it’s what it has been made to say over the years that’s striking...Not an all-out triumph but a victory nonetheless.
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For members of the Game of Thrones fan club, it’s also an opportunity to see what Kit Harington (alias Jon Snow) makes of the warrior role. Is he up to the challenge? The answer is a resounding yes.
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What Max Webster's modern-dress production proves is how many ways Henry V can be interpreted, revealing Shakespeare's uncanny understanding of the brutalising effects of any war.
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...Webster is more interested in using the play as a study in national identity. That’s as valid as any other approach, but what’s problematic is the sledgehammer tactic.
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