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Which
isn’t to say that there’s no joy in Mudville.
Far from it – some of the plot earns a side-eye from me, but the
character work is pretty excellent.
Henry himself takes more of a prominent place in his own play. The king, wounded and ill after the battle
against Hotspur, feels the coming dying of the light. Jeremy Irons delivers on the “uneasy lies the
head” scene, and as always, Henry’s scenes with Hal are great.
Speaking
of Hal, he gets some choice moments to shine as well. His best scene, of course, comes when the young
prince takes his sleeping father’s crown and contemplates his impending
ascendency. Apprehension, grief,
determination, fear, and anticipation mingle in a single speech, and Tom
Hiddleston is just stunning. I’d say
it’s the highlight of the entire play.
It’s
interesting to watch Hal’s progression through the Henry IV plays and Henry V. This one is set very shortly after Henry IV’s
first installment, but we can already see a change in Hal. Part of this has come about due to the
thorough dressing-down he received from his father in the last play – he’s
determined to prove the old man wrong.
He’s also been affected by his experiences during the battle. And, naturally, his father’s illness is
weighing heavily on him; he’s begun to grieve his coming loss, and he knows
that the crown will bring with it glory and
burden (great power and great responsibility:
it’s not just for Spider-Man.)
Which
isn’t to say he’s great king material yet.
He still likes hanging out in bawdy houses, and he’s still fond of
pranks and deceptions. However, the
prince who went away to the wars is decidedly not the same one who returned.
I
wonder why his father doesn’t see this.
For the vast majority of the play, Henry still acts like Hal is an
embarrassment and a liability, a loose cannon who needs to be babysat by one of
his younger brothers. When he discovers
Hal with the crown, Henry’s mind immediately jumps to the assumption that his
son is an unfeeling little grasper who can’t wait for the king to die before
claiming the throne. The enormous
feelings Hal has been wrestling with aren’t even considered. Despite the royal backdrop, this part of the
story feels very real and intimate, that of a son who’s trying to change and a
father who still sees the same old screw-up.
Most of
the cast is carried over from part 1, but there are a few newcomers I
know. David Bamber (Mr. Collins in the
Ehle/Firth Pride and Prejudice) and
Justin Edwards (Ben Swain from The Thick
of It) both have small roles. And,
naturally, we have a couple more Who
folk. Add Iain Glen (“The Time of
Angels” / “Flesh and Stone”) and Geoffrey Palmer (“The Voyage of the Damned”)
to the roster.
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