Henry V (Sam Wanamaker Playhouse) London Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (10)
See it if The main actor was a good actor.
Don't see it if The rest of the cast was amateurish. Bad directorial choices.
See it if already have read and seen Henry V multiple times and want to see a new perspective performed by a diverse cast
Don't see it if want to understand the plot from the first view: you might get confused with oversimplified costumes, characters constantly switching roles
See it if You love modern takes on Shakespeare. This version has some liberties, but for me they paid off. This is powerful, uncomfortable theatre.
Don't see it if You prefer faithful retelling of this text.
See it if You want to experience the Globe in the winter! This indoor space is stunning.
Don't see it if You’re easily bored by an action-less history play. The play itself is not terribly interesting & this production was hard to connect to
See it if You love modernized Shakespeare that edits the original text.
Don't see it if You are easily confused with Shakespeare and gender-bending characters.
See it if you're interested in how re-interpretations can bring fresh relevance to old texts
Don't see it if you're a purist who just wants to see a straightforward performance "as it was meant to be" Read more
See it if You like "the message" forced in your face dispossessing all your trust of the Globe and soon after the future of Britain as a whole.
Don't see it if You want to enjoy a play written by William Shakespeare.
See it if (Note: This is the Globe 22/23 production) It’s a clever, modern take on Henry V, interrogating patriotism and royal entitlement.
Don't see it if You want a straightforward “noble King” yelling inspiring speeches on a battlefield.
Critic Reviews (9)
"It's an immense task to revolutionise a play whose meanings and morals are so embedded into its tradition. This production has the right ideas, but too many concepts are at stake."
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"It’s performed on a stage bare apart from a few chairs, with a largely young cast in everyday clothes playing multiple roles. And it’s intense. ... It’s a typically bold ending to a fresh and vivid interpretation."
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"There are no heroes on this battlefield, only humans fighting for survival. With other members of the cast doubling roles, Henry seems a more dominant figure than ever."
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"I’ve long seen this play treated as a referendum on the making of a warrior-king but Roughan re-casts a potential study in jingoism as a chilling anatomy of one man’s slide into savagery."
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"This is a fast, slick, spare production that rarely skimps on detail as it digs deep beneath the play’s presentations of power, nationhood and, yes, pesky testosterone."
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"At times it feels the text has been overly contorted to the vision, there is no doubting its power. Never before have I found the play so discomfiting."
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"This … is very much a Henry V for our times … It’s something of an antidote to the season’s prevailing bonhomie and tinsel, but this bold interpretation is well worth a visit from those interested in alternative histories and hidden motivations."
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"This is a coruscating production about the desperate grasp for power, and how it does no man or country any good."
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