Waiting for the start of the Histories
It’s nearly time for the much anticipated RSC chronological Histories cycle. I left my cat in my mother’s care yesterday, where the little beast is probably being spoilt rotten on filleted cod and peeled shrimps, and set off for Stratford. It’s good to be back here, even if it’s always a bit of a shock to the system getting adjusted to how small and quiet this place is. I remember a visit back in January of last year, where the whole town centre seemed to be absolutely deserted at around 16.30 on a Saturday afternoon. That was a very strange sensation for a city girl like me, to be somewhere that actually closes down completely, and so early at that, and it felt a bit like walking round the set of some post-apocalyptic disaster movie where not a living soul was to be seen, eerie, and a bit unnerving. Still, this little town has its charm.
The cycle kicks off tomorrow with R2, which is the only production of the eight that I’ve already seen. I had intended not to see any of them before the full cycle, in order not to spoil the surprise of how they are staged, but I caved in back in January after hearing one favourable opinion after another about this production of R2, and I’m very glad that I did, as it means that I will get to enjoy it twice and not just once. I awarded it a full five stars back then, which is something that no other production (Shakespeare or otherwise) has earned from me in the last five years, so tomorrow evening should certainly be good, and the cycle will start on a high note.
As Friday is one of the days that have three plays (1H4, 2H4 and H5), the first starting at 10.30, I don’t expect that there will be a huge crowd at the Duck after R2, so I’ll probably drop in and make some notes on the first performance over a double cappuccino. Though I wonder if they actually serve coffee at that time of night, I don’t suppose there’s much demand for it that late in the evening, so maybe not.
I’ve kind of sorted out the logistical problems involved with writing this blog in the short time (70-80 minutes) that’s available between plays on Friday and Saturday, or at least I hope so. I figured that if I don’t go for dinner in between the second and third play of the day, when there’s just 70 minutes available, but instead try to fit that in during the interval of the second play, then I’ll probably have the necessary time to write and post before the third play starts. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so we’ll see how that strategy works.
Since time is going to be in such short supply during the coming few days, I’m going to have to think in advance about the various problem scenes and the lines that are going to be crucial in interpretation, if I’m going to have any chance of posting my thoughts in a timely fashion, so this is going to be a major challenge. I might as well declare some personal prejudices in advance; I rate both 1H4 and 2H4 above H5, which might be due to my personal point of view as a woman, all that machismo stuff in H5 never did float my boat, even if there is some good stuff in there. 1H4 and 2H4 are very near the top of my list of favourite plays, R3 is also high on the list, with H5 somewhere in the middle category and R2 slightly below that, not sure why, but I’ve just never warmed to that particular play despite its obvious qualities.
Of the H6s I tend to find 1H6 quite dull in spite of (or possibly because of) the almost never ending battle scenes, and I find the Joan character so tedious that by the third act I’d be quite willing to start piling the kindling wood myself. Word of mouth has been positive about the current production, so it’ll be interesting to see if the RSC can actually make this soar, which would be a real feat, as it’s not so much a lame duck as a legless, headless and partially plucked carcass of a play. There are some glimmers of greatness in it of course, such as the scenes with Talbot and his son, but it’s not really a play that I find myself taking down from the shelf for a pleasant reading experience. 2H6 is hardly better in my opinion, another very uneven work with plots going off in all directions, but 3H6 is actually a very decent play, and if it wasn’t for that unfortunate “part 3” in the title I’m sure that it would be performed much more frequently.
The H6s are going to be very interesting to see, as full-length productions of any of the three parts tend to be rare. Hardly surprising really, when most artistic directors sit down to ponder which, if any, Shakespeare play that they’ll put on that year, not too many of them will go “Let’s put on Henry VI part 2, that’ll be a fantastic crowd puller and a sure success”. Instead they usually opt for one of the biggies, and quite understandably so, when they’ve got to find the best way to fill the seats and ensure that their theatre survives financially.
Today I just barely had the time to get to that wonderful bookshop that’s located across the street from the Birthplace Trust, and what do you know; I found an edition of Coriolanus that I didn’t already have. It’s one of my favourite plays of the canon, but I’m beginning to wonder if I shouldn’t start to worry about my obsession with that play, as I’m sure that it can’t be entirely healthy to have 18 editions of the same play. Oh well, I suppose you could have far worse addictions than Shakespeare.
I’m thrilled about seeing the upcoming Histories cycle, and it’s going to be so interesting seeing the same group of actors doing them all, if a tad confusing as not only the names and titles of the characters will reoccur, but also the faces. From what I hear, this ensemble idea will mean that those that play the leads in some of the plays will be playing some very minor supporting parts in the other plays, which should in theory mean a tremendous depth in casting. I’m hoping that this will mean that the minor characters will gain new depths, as you don’t often see them being played by people of that calibre.
Until tomorrow then.
//Jenny
