'Crowned aged nine months, he is entirely unsuited to rule and hates it. Yet he knows what his responsibility to his people...' Photo: Chuk Iwuji as Henry VI in 2006, courtesy RSC
Play favourites: John Lampen revisits Shakespeare’s Henry VI
‘They present a world of politics with a very contemporary resonance.’
by John Lampen
18th February 2022
Shakespeare’s Henry VI trilogy was a big success in its time, but is seldom played today. The plays look boring on paper. Huge lists of characters have names that sound like county councils; long speeches are given in plodding end-stopped verse; indistinguishable battles recur. But past productions have shown how powerful they can be, so I’m glad to see Parts II and III on this year’s RSC programme. But will anyone want to see them?
