Having a boyish King as Shakespeare’s Henry the Fifth pays some dividends in that he can demonstrate playfulness and extreme physicality, giving us the puppyish vigour of a young man off to war.
What it can’t do, in this production by the Bell Shakespeare Company, is give us a richly resonant voice that thrills with the power of its oratory. JK Kazzi achieved some fine moments, but for most of the evening he sounded like a young equerry to the King. His instrument projects but not with any great gravitas. However, he delivered some deeply interesting moments. The humorous touches he gained from the St Crispin’s day speech were fascinating: inviting us to reflect on the drollness of youth.
His ruthlessness when he traps the traitors before embarkation was judiciously applied. His night wandering, severely trimmed in this adaptation into two representative soldiers, was too truncated to register any spirit, failing to capture the myriad emotions in the nighttime field of war. His stark ‘Harry the lad’ exchanges with Katherine were blatantly humorous, but somehow missed the embarrassment the warrior king begins to feel
The battle scenes in the mud (an OH&S nightmare carefully managed by the company) were arresting – chaos and exhaustion confounding any glory. The production heightened the extreme violence that the English unleash - war crimes in essence - allowing us to focus on the dark heart of vengeance and the plundering that warlords so easily enact.
The French King was eloquently portrayed by Jo Turner - his experiences of the dangers and unpredictable outcomes of war nicely drawn. He was less success as the Archbishop, physically adroit in the role but linguistically challenged by the comedy of this verbally galloping role.
The bluster and insolence of the Dauphin were easily enacted by Jack Halabi
Ella Prince looked the part of Exeter (dressed as Prince Valiant), but the voice is not large, and many phrases disappeared into the ether.
Harrison Mills physically enacted Scroop’s betrayal with energy and passion, but not all his words could be heard. This issue was less of problem with his assumption of Michael Williams - his rejection of the King’s gold was nicely done, with a touch of surly rebelliousness.
The variableness of diction and projection across multiple character assumptions seemed to be an embedded trait of the production.
Mararo Wangai as Mount Joy suffered a similar variableness of vocal impact. He was, however, arresting with the “days is yours’
Alex Kirwan as Westmorland displayed an affecting death in the mud of Azincourt - but looking so boyish and unhardened, he failed to convince as a warrior prince.
Ziggy Resnick’s speech was somewhat inaudible as Gray, the conspirator, though he was physically arresting. The tension between vocal strength and audibility, and physicality and youthfulness created a conundrum matrix across the evening, giving its own fractured frissons to so many of the performances.
Ava Madon as Katherine and Odile Le Clezio as Alice explored their English lesson with a nicely judged acidity – mixing anger and resolution - though the humour was a little low key.
The costuming (Anna Tregloan) was effectively muted, except for Katherine’s canary yellow. The battle fatigues sensibly supported the civil war ethos of brother France and brother England - in slaughterous conflict. The presentation of the tennis balls was entertaining.
The metal scaffolding was effectively manoeuvred into different and interesting settings. The sounds (Jethro Woodward) heightened emotions and sequencing. The lighting design (Verity Hampson) was simpatico to the overall production.
At 100 minutes straight the production required the excision of many characters. The use of war crime interviews to brocade the chorus’s scene setting was on the whole craftily managed, highlighting how the victors have a head start in telling the story of the battles and outcomes of war. As Auden once wrote (and then disowned!): “History to the defeated/May say Alas but cannot help or pardon”.
What was good about the production was the respect and enjoyment of the language, allowing us to savour its imagery without the haste to get to the end of the line that sometimes has become a hallmark of Bell Shakespeare..
Despite its ruthless pruning, Marion Potts delivers an engaging production
Bell Shakespeare, Playhouse, Sydney Opera House, Sydney, 4 March, 2025
Gar Jones
What it can’t do, in this production by the Bell Shakespeare Company, is give us a richly resonant voice that thrills with the power of its oratory. JK Kazzi achieved some fine moments, but for most of the evening he sounded like a young equerry to the King. His instrument projects but not with any great gravitas. However, he delivered some deeply interesting moments. The humorous touches he gained from the St Crispin’s day speech were fascinating: inviting us to reflect on the drollness of youth.
His ruthlessness when he traps the traitors before embarkation was judiciously applied. His night wandering, severely trimmed in this adaptation into two representative soldiers, was too truncated to register any spirit, failing to capture the myriad emotions in the nighttime field of war. His stark ‘Harry the lad’ exchanges with Katherine were blatantly humorous, but somehow missed the embarrassment the warrior king begins to feel
The battle scenes in the mud (an OH&S nightmare carefully managed by the company) were arresting – chaos and exhaustion confounding any glory. The production heightened the extreme violence that the English unleash - war crimes in essence - allowing us to focus on the dark heart of vengeance and the plundering that warlords so easily enact.
The French King was eloquently portrayed by Jo Turner - his experiences of the dangers and unpredictable outcomes of war nicely drawn. He was less success as the Archbishop, physically adroit in the role but linguistically challenged by the comedy of this verbally galloping role.
The bluster and insolence of the Dauphin were easily enacted by Jack Halabi
Ella Prince looked the part of Exeter (dressed as Prince Valiant), but the voice is not large, and many phrases disappeared into the ether.
Harrison Mills physically enacted Scroop’s betrayal with energy and passion, but not all his words could be heard. This issue was less of problem with his assumption of Michael Williams - his rejection of the King’s gold was nicely done, with a touch of surly rebelliousness.
The variableness of diction and projection across multiple character assumptions seemed to be an embedded trait of the production.
Mararo Wangai as Mount Joy suffered a similar variableness of vocal impact. He was, however, arresting with the “days is yours’
Alex Kirwan as Westmorland displayed an affecting death in the mud of Azincourt - but looking so boyish and unhardened, he failed to convince as a warrior prince.
Ziggy Resnick’s speech was somewhat inaudible as Gray, the conspirator, though he was physically arresting. The tension between vocal strength and audibility, and physicality and youthfulness created a conundrum matrix across the evening, giving its own fractured frissons to so many of the performances.
Ava Madon as Katherine and Odile Le Clezio as Alice explored their English lesson with a nicely judged acidity – mixing anger and resolution - though the humour was a little low key.
The costuming (Anna Tregloan) was effectively muted, except for Katherine’s canary yellow. The battle fatigues sensibly supported the civil war ethos of brother France and brother England - in slaughterous conflict. The presentation of the tennis balls was entertaining.
The metal scaffolding was effectively manoeuvred into different and interesting settings. The sounds (Jethro Woodward) heightened emotions and sequencing. The lighting design (Verity Hampson) was simpatico to the overall production.
At 100 minutes straight the production required the excision of many characters. The use of war crime interviews to brocade the chorus’s scene setting was on the whole craftily managed, highlighting how the victors have a head start in telling the story of the battles and outcomes of war. As Auden once wrote (and then disowned!): “History to the defeated/May say Alas but cannot help or pardon”.
What was good about the production was the respect and enjoyment of the language, allowing us to savour its imagery without the haste to get to the end of the line that sometimes has become a hallmark of Bell Shakespeare..
Despite its ruthless pruning, Marion Potts delivers an engaging production
Bell Shakespeare, Playhouse, Sydney Opera House, Sydney, 4 March, 2025
Gar Jones
