This England: The Histories
Encyclopedia
This England: The Histories was a season of Shakespeare
's history plays staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company
in 2000-2001. The company staged both of Shakespeare's tetralogies
of history plays so that audiences could see all eight plays over several days. The plays staged were: Richard II
, Henry IV, part 1
, Henry IV, part 2
, Henry V
, Henry VI, part 1
, Henry VI, part 2
, Henry VI, part 3
, and Richard III
.
Previously, the RSC had offered seasons in which one of the tetralogies had been staged at the RSC, such as The Wars of the Roses
(the Henry VI plays adapted by John Barton
), or The Plantaganets (the Henry VI plays directed by Adrian Noble
). However, staging all eight plays in sequence was such a mammoth task that it had never been attempted. The RSC solved the problem by maintaining the same actors in the same role, but giving different plays to different directors. The directors often interpreted the plays and characters in very different ways; some productions were in medieval dress, others in modern dress, for example.
, as part of the Complete Works
festival and also as the first part of an unprecedented 2-year ensemble project to show all the history plays with one set of actors.http://www.rsc.org.uk/newsandevents/events/2205.aspx Most of the original cast (except Oyelowo, McArdle and one or two others) remained the same, though few played the same part(s) as in the original production. The part of Henry VI, however, was still played by a black actor, this time Chuk Iwuji
.
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's history plays staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company is a major British theatre company, based in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The company employs 700 staff and produces around 20 productions a year from its home in Stratford-upon-Avon and plays regularly in London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne and on tour across...
in 2000-2001. The company staged both of Shakespeare's tetralogies
Tetralogy
A tetralogy is a compound work that is made up of four distinct works, just as a trilogy is made up of three works....
of history plays so that audiences could see all eight plays over several days. The plays staged were: Richard II
Richard II (play)
King Richard the Second is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to be written in approximately 1595. It is based on the life of King Richard II of England and is the first part of a tetralogy, referred to by some scholars as the Henriad, followed by three plays concerning Richard's...
, Henry IV, part 1
Henry IV, Part 1
Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. It is the second play in Shakespeare's tetralogy dealing with the successive reigns of Richard II, Henry IV , and Henry V...
, Henry IV, part 2
Henry IV, Part 2
Henry IV, Part 2 is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed written between 1596 and 1599. It is the third part of a tetralogy, preceded by Richard II and Henry IV, Part 1 and succeeded by Henry V.-Sources:...
, Henry V
Henry V (play)
Henry V is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to be written in approximately 1599. Its full titles are The Cronicle History of Henry the Fifth and The Life of Henry the Fifth...
, Henry VI, part 1
Henry VI, part 1
Henry VI, Part 1 or The First Part of Henry the Sixt is a history play by William Shakespeare, and possibly Thomas Nashe, believed to have been written in 1591, and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England...
, Henry VI, part 2
Henry VI, part 2
Henry VI, Part 2 or The Second Part of Henry the Sixt is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591, and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England...
, Henry VI, part 3
Henry VI, part 3
Henry VI, Part 3 or The Third Part of Henry the Sixt is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591, and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England...
, and Richard III
Richard III (play)
Richard III is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in approximately 1591. It depicts the Machiavellian rise to power and subsequent short reign of Richard III of England. The play is grouped among the histories in the First Folio and is most often classified...
.
Previously, the RSC had offered seasons in which one of the tetralogies had been staged at the RSC, such as The Wars of the Roses
The Wars of the Roses (adaptation)
The Wars of the Roses was a 1964 adaptation of four of the history plays of William Shakespeare by John Barton, directed by Barton himself and Peter Hall at the Royal Shakespeare Company. It conflated Henry VI, Part 1, Henry VI, Part 2 and Henry VI, Part 3 into two new plays, Henry VI and Edward...
(the Henry VI plays adapted by John Barton
John Barton (director)
John Bernard Adie Barton CBE is a theatrical director. He is the son of Sir Harold Montagu and Lady Joyce Barton. He married Anne Righter, a university lecturer, in 1968....
), or The Plantaganets (the Henry VI plays directed by Adrian Noble
Adrian Noble
Adrian Keith Noble is a theatre director, and was also the artistic director and chief executive of the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1990 to 2003.-Education and career:...
). However, staging all eight plays in sequence was such a mammoth task that it had never been attempted. The RSC solved the problem by maintaining the same actors in the same role, but giving different plays to different directors. The directors often interpreted the plays and characters in very different ways; some productions were in medieval dress, others in modern dress, for example.
The Cast
- Samuel WestSamuel WestSamuel Alexander Joseph West is an English actor and theatre director. He is perhaps best known for his role in Howards End and his work on stage. He also starred in the award-winning play ENRON...
played King Richard IIRichard II of EnglandRichard II was King of England, a member of the House of Plantagenet and the last of its main-line kings. He ruled from 1377 until he was deposed in 1399. Richard was a son of Edward, the Black Prince, and was born during the reign of his grandfather, Edward III... - David TroughtonDavid TroughtonDavid Troughton is an English actor, best known for his Shakespearean roles on the British stage.- Biography :David Troughton was born in Hampstead, North London. He comes from a theatrical family: he is the son of Doctor Who actor Patrick Troughton, elder brother of Michael Troughton, and father...
played Henry Bolingbroke, later King Henry IVHenry IV of EnglandHenry IV was King of England and Lord of Ireland . He was the ninth King of England of the House of Plantagenet and also asserted his grandfather's claim to the title King of France. He was born at Bolingbroke Castle in Lincolnshire, hence his other name, Henry Bolingbroke... - William HoustonWilliam HoustonWilliam Churchill Houston was an American teacher, lawyer, and statesman. He was a delegate to both the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention for New Jersey. Houston was elected in 1785 to the American Philosophical Society.-Early life and career:Houston was born in the Sumter...
played Prince Hal, later King Henry VHenry V of EnglandHenry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster.... - Adam LevyAdam LevyAdam Levy is an accomplished jazz guitarist and singer-songwriter. Levy has recorded with Norah Jones, Tracy Chapman, Sex Mob, and Amos Lee, and has released several solo albums as well. is his latest....
played Hotspur (Henry Percy)Henry PercySir Henry Percy, also called Harry Hotspur KG was the eldest son of Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, 4th Lord Percy of Alnwick. His mother was Margaret Neville, daughter of Ralph Neville, 2nd Baron Neville de Raby and Alice de Audley. His nickname, 'Hotspur', is suggestive of his impulsive... - Desmond BarritDesmond BarritDesmond Barrit is a Laurence Olivier Award winning, British actor, best known for his stage work.-Biography:Barrit was born on 19 October 1944 in Morriston, Swansea, Wales....
played FalstaffFalstaffSir John Falstaff is a fictional character who appears in three plays by William Shakespeare. In the two Henry IV plays, he is a companion to Prince Hal, the future King Henry V. A fat, vain, boastful, and cowardly knight, Falstaff leads the apparently wayward Prince Hal into trouble, and is... - David OyelowoDavid Oyelowo- Background :Oyelowo was born in Oxford, England of Nigerian descent. He is married to actress Jessica Oyelowo and they have three sons.Oyelowo first attended a youth theatre after being invited by a girl to whom he was attracted. He then studied Theatre Studies for A level and his teacher...
played King Henry VI of EnglandHenry VI of EnglandHenry VI was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. Until 1437, his realm was governed by regents. Contemporaneous accounts described him as peaceful and pious, not suited for the violent dynastic civil wars, known as the Wars...
(the first black actor to play a king for the RSC) - Fiona Bell played Margaret of AnjouMargaret of AnjouMargaret of Anjou was the wife of King Henry VI of England. As such, she was Queen consort of England from 1445 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471; and Queen consort of France from 1445 to 1453...
- Aidan McArdleAidan McArdleAidan McArdle is an Irish actor.McArdle was born in Dublin. He studied for an Arts degree at University College Dublin before going on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, England....
played Richard Gloucester, later King Richard IIIRichard III of EnglandRichard III was King of England for two years, from 1483 until his death in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty...
The Stagings
- Steven PimlottSteven PimlottSteven Charles Pimlott OBE was an English opera and theatre director and actor. An obituary in The Times hailed him as "one of the most versatile and inventive theatre directors of his generation"...
directed Richard II in modern dress on a bare white stage in The Other PlaceThe Other PlaceThe Other Place may refer to:* The Other Place , a 1999 young adult novel* The Other Place, a collection of short stories by J. B... - Michael AttenboroughMichael AttenboroughThe Hon. Michael John Attenborough is a successful English theatre director. His parents are the actors Richard Attenborough, Baron Attenborough and Sheila Sim, Lady Attenborough...
directed the Henry IV plays in medieval dress in a simple set in the Swan TheatreSwan Theatre (Stratford)The Swan Theatre is a theatre belonging to the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It is built on to the side of the larger Royal Shakespeare Theatre, occupying the Victorian Gothic structure that formerly housed the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre that preceded the RST but was... - Edward HallEdward HallEdward Hall , English chronicler and lawyer, was born about the end of the 15th century, being a son of John Hall of Northall, Shropshire....
directed Henry V in the Royal Shakespeare TheatreRoyal Shakespeare TheatreThe Royal Shakespeare Theatre is a 1,040+ seat thrust stage theatre owned by the Royal Shakespeare Company dedicated to the British playwright and poet William Shakespeare. It is located in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon - Shakespeare's birthplace - in the English Midlands, beside the River Avon...
in modern dress - Michael BoydMichael BoydMichael Boyd is a British theatre director, and current artistic director of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has regularly collaborated with stage designer Tom Piper since they first worked together on a pantomime for the Tron Theatre in Glasgow.-Early years:Boyd was born in Belfast, Northern...
directed the Henry VI plays and Richard III in the Swan Theatre in a dreamlike medieval setting.
Revival
The Henry VI productions were revived from 7 July 2006 (and from January 2007, Richard III) in the RSC's new Courtyard TheatreCourtyard Theatre
The Courtyard Theatre is a temporary 1,048 seat thrust stage theatre building in Stratford-upon-Avon, England. Designed by Ian Ritchie Architects and built in 11 months, it opened in August 2006 to host performances by the Royal Shakespeare Company while its Royal Shakespeare and Swan Theatres...
, as part of the Complete Works
Complete Works (RSC festival)
The Complete Works is a festival set up by the Royal Shakespeare Company, running between April 2006 and March 2007 at Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, England. The festival aims to perform all of Shakespeare's works, including his sonnets, poems and all 37 plays...
festival and also as the first part of an unprecedented 2-year ensemble project to show all the history plays with one set of actors.http://www.rsc.org.uk/newsandevents/events/2205.aspx Most of the original cast (except Oyelowo, McArdle and one or two others) remained the same, though few played the same part(s) as in the original production. The part of Henry VI, however, was still played by a black actor, this time Chuk Iwuji
Chuk Iwuji
Chukwudi Iwuji , usually shortened to Chuk Iwuji or Chuck Iwuji, is a Nigerian-born actor, active in the United Kingdom.-Life:...
.