GREAT HENRY CRITIQUE

Henry V

For further information regarding the critical or stage history of Henry V, see SC, Volumes 5, 14, 30, 49, 67, and 79.

INTRODUCTION

The concluding drama of Shakespeare's second historical tetralogy, Henry V was first performed in 1599 and likely written in the same year. The play recounts the reign of celebrated English monarch Henry V, centering on his successful military campaign against France in the early fifteenth century. Shakespeare based his play on numerous works, including Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1577), Edward Hall's The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancaster and York (1598), and The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth, an anonymous play of the 1580s. As one of Shakespeare's most popular history plays, Henry V has been the subject of voluminous and often divergent critical analysis. Although many modern critics have found fault with Henry V for his unrealistic conversion from irresponsible prince to hero-king, his coldhearted rejection of Falstaff, and his bloody war with France, Louis B. Wright and Virginia A. LaMar (1960) point out that for Elizabethans, Henry V was a perfect king. The critics maintain that Shakespeare's Henry V “reflects with striking immediacy the attitudes and concepts of his own period” and emphasize that the play was first produced at a time when the English populace was keenly patriotic and fascinated with heroes and history.
The majority of the character studies of Henry V naturally focus on the title figure. Critics remain divided as to whether Henry should be regarded as an ideal king whose war with France is justified, or as a brutal, Machiavellian leader. While most critics acknowledge that Shakespeare intended to present a patriotic valorization of a legendary national hero, contemporary scholarly studies and theatrical interpretations have tended to stress the ambiguous nature of Henry's character. In her study of Henry, Judith Mossman (1994) examines parallels between Henry in Shakespeare's Henry V and Alexander in Plutarch's Life of Alexander. Mossman contends that “by encouraging us to consider Henry in parallel with Alexander, Shakespeare seeks to explain certain features of his play's construction as well as to characterize Henry not as a cold-blooded monster but as a prince.” Similarly, John Mark Mattox (see Further Reading) argues that Shakespeare depicted Henry as a just warrior engaged in a just war. Mattox maintains that Henry is more than “a great conqueror of the Alexandrian variety,” concluding that in his portrayal Shakespeare elevated him “from the status of being merely England's greatest warrior to that of England's consummate just warrior.” Critics are also interested in the play's minor characters. Larry S. Champion (1965) examines Nell Quickly, detailing the transformation of her character in the Henry plays from a mere sketch to “a full-sized portrait.” Alice Lyle Scoufos (1967) considers Shakespeare's use of the legend of Sir John Oldcastle in his portrayal of Falstaff in the Henry plays. The critic also speculates on what made the playwright decide to have this extremely popular character die so undramatically and abruptly in Act II, scene iii of Henry V.
For the vast majority of its stage history, Henry V has been treated as a straightforward celebration of a king who would become England's foremost military hero. However, as Alexander Harrington (2003) points out, the moral ambiguity of Henry V lends itself to both pro-war and anti-war productions of the play. Many modern productions, such as Nicholas Hytner's 2003 National Theatre staging of Henry V, have tended to stress the anti-war aspects of the drama. Susannah Clapp (2003) credits Hytner's production for breaking from Laurence Olivier's highly influential 1944 film adaptation. Unlike Olivier's pro-war “heroic romance,” Clapp notes, Hytner's production was “much darker” and “more divided.” Mark Steyn (2003), however, rejects Hytner's anti-war production, contending that it panders to “the smug Guardian-reading Bush-despising NGO-adoring middle-class metropolitan theatergoer.” Mark Wing-Davey's 2003 Delacorte Theater staging of Henry V in New York's Central Park received mostly negative reviews. An anonymous review published in the New York Post (2003) lauds Schreiber's “magical, subtle” portrayal of Henry V, but criticizes Wing-Davey's production as cynical and unbalanced. Similarly, Ben Brantley (2003) dismisses Wing-Davey's “flashy, flabby” production and contends that the director “devised a Henry V that shirks from seriousness on the unavoidable subjects of war and patriotism.” In his extremely negative review, Steyn calls Wing-Davey's production “quite the most stupid I've ever seen” and contends that the director “seems to have no idea that the play is about anything at all.” In his comparison of Hytner's and Wing-Davey's productions, Steyn maintains that “Nicholas Hytner may be anti-war, but Mark Wing-Davey is anti-Shakespeare.” Katharine Goodland (2003) reviews the 2003 Jean Cocteau Repertory staging of Henry V, directed by David Fuller. Goodland examines the production's focus on the moral issue of war crimes—particularly the scene in which Henry orders his soldiers to kill their prisoners—and notes that “Fuller admirably refuses to simplify this moment.”
Critics are interested in the significance of the play's final act, particularly the courtship between Katherine and Henry V. Henry David Steinsaltz (2002) focuses on the French scenes—those scenes spoken primarily in French—and contends that “[a]s the English nation is perpetually at war with the French, so must their languages be at war.” Steinsaltz concludes that in Henry V the English language is “intimately entwined with the life and honor of the English nation” and that the play is not merely “a representation of England's triumph over France, but … the humiliation and tumultuous trouncing of the French language, which had subjugated their native English for so long.” Donald Hedrick's 2003 study of the play's final act focuses on the wooing scene. Hedrick examines Katherine's resistance to Henry's wooing in light of the fact that Henry is the enemy of France and that Katherine's family has recently tried to have him assassinated. The critic notes that “the couple are no Romeo and Juliet, and romancing is more like negotiating with a mobster family.” In his 1969 essay, Charles Barber (see Further Reading) advances an ultimately negative evaluation of the play. Barber contends that in Henry V Shakespeare presented “an uncritical glorification of the Tudor monarchy and its ideals.” Barber further maintains that Shakespeare's dishonestly “suppresses aspects of the history of the period of which he was perfectly aware, and holds in abeyance his own powers of moral and political analysis.”

Source: Shakespearean Criticism, ©2005 Gale Cengage. All Rights Reserved. Full copyright.

http://www.enotes.com/henry-5-criticism/henry-v-vol-89

the oddity of Henry from American Shakespeare Center

Henry V: Fearful Odds

One of the attractions of Shakespeare is that his plays are odd — different not only
from other plays but different from one another as well. Henry V, however, may be the
oddest — not quite like a play at all. The narrative can barely be called a plot: King
Henry V invades France, wins the Battle of Agincourt against the odds, and marries the
Princess. The play is stuffed with characters — the Eastcheap gang, the traitors, the
English lords, the French court, the English foot soldiers, the English, Welsh, Irish, and
Scottish captains, and Princess Kate — but their stories (with the exception of Pistol’s)
seem like footnotes to Henry’s, and their realities seem completely tied to his.
The Chorus, too, is odd. His function seems to be that of the “color man” for a TV
sports event — a cheerleader like Dick Valvano, who, instead of extolling Duke’s Coach
K, keeps telling (selling) us the virtues of England’s King Henry V. In fact, everyone
in the play directs our gaze at Henry. The archbishops, Pistol, Mistress Quickly,
Nym, Captains Fluellen and Gower, the King of France, the Dauphin, the other French
nobles, the enlisted men — all of them give us their view of the King. The play is a
virtual Rorschach test on how we see Henry.
“Who is this guy?” is a question Shakespeare explored for three years (and the ASC has
been exploring it for the last two). Two plays earlier, in his first appearance on stage,
Henry himself — then Prince Hal — brings up the subject of who he is when he tells us
he is only pretending to be a rakehell so that his “reformation … shall show more goodly
and attract more eyes.” His fight to the death with Hotspur is a battle over the right
to the name “Harry”; as the new king, he assures us that “Not Amurath an Amurath
succeeds, but Harry Harry”; and when he banishes Falstaff, he says, “think not I am the
thing I was.”
Paradoxically, in a play so crowded with characters who revolve around the King and
care so much about who he is, we sense a great loneliness in his own search to answer
that question. That search and its inescapable loneliness may seem to you familiar.
I love this Wooden O of a play, and I think it one of Shakespeare’s great feats of
theatrical levitation to make it fly by having us “piece out [its] imperfections with [our]
thoughts.” While I was in college, it first unlocked for me a wonder of Shakespeare;
while I was in grad school, it gave my second daughter her name Kate; and when I
taught at JMU, my production of Henry V (in which that same daughter played Kate to
Jim Warren’s Henry) would lead to the formation of a touring Shakespeare company
called the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express.
“…if the cause be not good, the King himself hath a heavy reckoning to make.”
Ralph Alan Cohen
ASC Director of Mission, Co-founder

http://www.americanshakespearecenter.com/v.php?pg=1197

Great notes from Colorado Sks Fest

Director: Malcolm Morrison
DIRECTOR NOTES

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For a contemporary audience versed in politically correct anti-warism, Shakespeare's glorification of war in Henry V might seem distasteful. However, history implies that for every horrific image of war there is an inverse image of glory to be found.

SYNOPSIS

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The Life of King Henry the Fifth chronicles Henry's campaign to regain England's French territories lost between the reign of his great-grandfather, Edward III, and that of his father's cousin and rival, Richard II. The play begins in the London palace where Henry V and his advisors affirm his claim to the French throne. As Henry declares war against France, an insulting gift of tennis balls is delivered to him from the French Dauphin, who ridicules Henry and mocks his threat of invasion. This incident further inflames Henry's determination to assert his claim in France. As war preparations are made, Henry orders the execution of three treasonous English noblemen who threaten his life and throne.

In France, Henry captures the city of Harfleur. He then proceeds toward Agincourt where his army confronts French forces which outnumber his ten to one. The night before this battle Henry disguises himself as a commoner and visits his troops. He grapples with tough ethical issues, including the morality of the war and the lives for which he is responsible.
On St. Crispin's Day the English achieve a miraculous victory at Agincourt. As a result of this battle, Henry is awarded the French crown and marries Katherine, the French princess. Through his marriage, Henry attempts to permanently unite England and France. However, as the play's epilogue suggests, this peace is short-lived. The rule of their son, Henry VI, ends disastrously in civil strife, usurpation, and the loss of France.

PRODUCTION NOTES

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Henry V, known as Prince Hal in his youth, inherited the throne of England through his Lancaster father, Henry Bolingbroke, who reigned as Henry IV. Bolingbroke usurped the throne from his York cousin, Richard II, violating the English law of inheritance which stipulated the eldest son as rightful heir. Though Bolingbroke was a much more effective ruler than Richard, his reign was threatened by warring factions until the time of his death. As king of a nation filled with internal strife, Bolingbroke desperately sought to prepare his first-born son to be an effective leader. It was at Bolingbroke's deathbed that Hal received the crown and was miraculously converted from a rambunctious playboy to a pious and godly ruler. It was also there that Shakespeare's Hal, now King Henry V, received the wise counsel of his father to avoid civil strife by "warring abroad." Acting upon this advice, Shakespeare's Henry V began his reign.

DRAMATURGICAL NOTES

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SHAKESPEARE vs. HISTORY Henry V may be viewed as a glorification of Shakespeare's patron, Queen Elizabeth. The subject of Henry's military achievements would certainly have been of interest to her. The historical Henry's marriage to Katherine, and her subsequent marriage to Owen Tudor, established the Tudor line of Elizabeth I. As Shakespeare glorified Henry V, the ideal god-king, he affirmed Elizabeth, the ideal god-queen.

Shakespeare's editing of the less honorable episodes of the historical French campaign enhances Henry's achievements. For example, Shakespeare describes the initial battle against the French at Harfleur as a brilliant military success, led by an inexhaustible Henry who rallies his army with charismatic discourse. He suggests that the battle was brief, and that it marked for the English a strong beginning to a tireless military campaign. In truth, the siege of Harfleur was a catastrophe.

Harfleur was the principle gateway to Paris. A port town famous for ship-building, weaving and dying, and notorious for smuggling and piracy, it was heavily fortified. Astride the river Lezarde, Harfleur was built on a marsh and encircled by a wall and a deep moat two-and-a-half miles around. There were three gates into the city, each protected by a drawbridge. The gates were protected by ironbound timbers, and the moat was sunk with stakes and tree trunks to destroy boat bottoms and skewer men. There were also several towers and embrasures along the length of the wall for missile discharge.

The English arrived at Harfleur in mid-August 1415. It was hot and humid. The marshes where the English were forced to camp were not only insect-infested but full of sewage. Henry planned to breach the town wall with great guns and explosives planted in tunnels underneath the wall. He confidently asserted that the city would be taken within eight days, but Harfleur was so well-fortified, and her citizens so prepared, that any breach achieved by the English was patched within a matter of hours. When the English attempted to scale the walls, they were baptized in hot sulphur or boiling fat. By the end of eight days, the wall was merely weakened, not penetrated.

Disaster struck when a severe epidemic of dysentery infected the English camp. By the fourteenth day of the siege, hundreds of English soldiers had died. Among them was the Earl of Suffolk, portrayed by Shakespeare as dying gloriously in battle at Agincourt. It was not until September 22, thirty days after the siege began, that Harfleur finally fell. By the end of the battle two thousand English had been lost, most of them to dysentery, some to battle. One thousand sick soldiers were sent back to England. This left Henry with an army of nine hundred men to complete the French campaign. It also set the march to Agincourt in early winter rains.

Historically, Henry's treatment of the conquered Harfleur's citizens was not, as Shakespeare suggests, merciful. Rather, members of Harfleur's aristocracy were forced to wear hair shirts of penitence and felons' halters, and to kneel before a silent Henry, who kept them under his tyrannous gaze. The King also ordered all of the crippled, elderly, and sick to leave the city which he planned to rebuild as a utopian English stronghold. Two thousand citizens were forced to leave their homes.

As the English marched from Harfleur to Agincourt, they met with continued resistance from the French. Although Shakespeare alluded to the weariness of the English troops, he did not mention the bitter cold and rain endured by the English for three weeks without shoes, shelter or food.

The historical battle of Agincourt was similar to Shakespeare's account in several ways. The French did outnumber the English ten to one. The French leadership was very disorganized and internal factions were their undoing. Henry did order the murder of all French prisoners. The English losses were very light compared to the slaughter of French and Henry did attribute the victory to God.

Unlike Shakespeare's account of the battle, there is no historical record that the baggage boys were murdered by the French or that the French prisoners were killed in retaliation for that slaughter. Rather, the French prisoners were killed because of the threat they posed in the face of French reinforcements arriving late in the battle. Henry's order enraged his own troops who relied on prisoner ransoms for personal profit. It nearly resulted in an English uprising. In order to avoid anarchy Henry threatened to hang any man who disobeyed this order. His men complied.

CSF's production of Henry V juxtaposes the horror and the glory of war, the ineffectiveness and the power of kings, and the weariness of aged experience with the vigor of youthful vitality. It is a production which embraces the antitheses of Henry V to challenge political dogma and stimulate ethical sensibilities.
Melody Thomas, Dramaturg, Henry V

http://www.coloradoshakes.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=113

one way to go

this reminds me of my high school boyfriend.

the critic seems to see parallels between George W and Henry...

sadly, i think that that is a shallow interpretation, based loosely on Act 1 and not the rest of the play.  or maybe the critic wasn't paying enough attention.

Henry is not a puppet of war mongers, nor a war monger himself.  he is a young man trying to figure out how to lead a country, and how to be a king.  the example set for him was that of a fighter, so he follows that ideal, and I believe he learns how to be a better king than his father.  and this is what we hope in the many centuries since then - we now have better leaders that get better and better each time... right?  well, maybe not, but that's the ideal...

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/article/2009/01/17/theater-guthries-henry-v-lively-and-compelling.html

its about power, domination

http://www.brooklynrail.org/2009/06/theater/women-in-the-trenches-henry-v-steps-into-the-hazard

this is a great article on an adaptation by the Roaring Girls' company, that investigates women's roles in Sks plays.  The director is excited by the idea that the male/female relationships - the battles, the control, the ownership - are a direct correlation to the relationships between nations.

design

I absolutely love the idea of doing this period... with alterations.

This is a company that seems to have done the show out of any period, but I like the modern-y steam-punky feel.  not the berets, though.

http://www.marinshakespeare.org/pages/synop99/HenryV3.php

Would a study guide be useful

This includes a 1-hr version of the play...

http://www.lookandlearn.com/blog/13727/henry-v-foils-the-southampton-plot-of-1415/

A resource on the southampton plot

http://www.lookandlearn.com/blog/13727/henry-v-foils-the-southampton-plot-of-1415/

a great article,

i might consider adding Mortimer as one of our non-speaking roles.

Thanks for Coming to the Reading!

Hi all,

I just wanted to send out another thank you to everyone who participated today in the read.  Your positive energy, excitement, and respect for each other was truly an honor to have in the room!

As everyone left I had a great conversation with Jodi, who will be a fight choreographer for the show.  We have some great aspirations for battles.  Ian Bigelow also came as we were cleaning up.  He will be another person working on the violent aspects of the show.  We got very excited throwing around ideas, too!

So, just so you all know:  auditions for the play will be the week of January 8th.  I'll be requiring a short (12-20 lines) prepared/memorized Shakespeare monologue.  If anyone would like advice on selecting a monologue, or would like to know what roles I see them as candidates for, I'd be happy to chat  - call me at 802-380-5090.

Again, everyone did a great job today, and I thank you SOOO much for coming out!

Have a lovely holiday season,
Jess

thoughts pre-first production meeting

So, going into our first production meeting, I want to talk about a few things:

Schedule (conflicts with Arsenic?)
Assistant Producer (review what mike and I discussed)
Fight (not sure if we need to talk about this)
Set (Jay, build crew, materials, early build)
Sound (Todd?)
Music (Lynn?)
Costumes (Becca)
Scripts (can we stop printing on fancy paper?)
Props (is this generally an SM responsibility)
Stage Manager (who is it gonna be)
Sponsorships (BS&L, King Arthur, Chroma, ...?)
Storage (where do we put props and costumes, since I want them early - can actors be responsible for them)
Booking the Park (who will do it - Brenda?)
Publicity
     auditions (January for in or out/March for callbacks)
     public reading (January 22-31 sometime, cast based on inclinations from Jan audition)
     public discussions (February, 2 or three talks on war, male coming of age, and English history each topic is accompanied by excerpted scenes from Henry V, read by available actors)
     show (June - 2 weekends)

Questions:
Why did you pick this show?
I wanted to bring a new story to the park.  VTC has done this Shakespeare in the Park tradition for 23 years now.  Henry V has never been done before in the park.  It is a great story of a young man coming of age, tempered with plenty of epic battles, loyal brotherhood, and a memorable love scene.

How is this History Play relevant to today's audiences?
This play is about how war changes men. It is about friendship.   And it is about how a young man learns to take responsibility for more than himself.

What is the meaning of this play?
The play is about Henry's journey from an adolescent, ruled by his emotions, to a man prepared to lead a country.  Its really a love story - Henry learns how to love England, sacrifice for her, and unselfishly make choices with the country's well-being in the forefront of his mind.

What are you excited about in this production?
Battles
Cast
Collaborators
Imagining medieval war
Exploring masculinity
Tackling scenes completely in French
Directing a love scene written in two languages

A reading, just for fun p2

Hey all,
So, I have cut and edited the script - characters are combined, choruses are juggled around... so, please when looking at your role, refer to my script.  I'll have copies of it at our reading on the 19th.

Here are your roles for our reading on 11/19.  Please know that Vermont Theatre Company has a policy of open casting.  Any role you read with me this time around is not guaranteed to be the role I cast you in after auditions, if you choose to audition. I invited you all because you are lovely people and I want to have a nice afternoon reading and chatting about Henry to get my brain around the story and people in it. Auditions for the Shakespeare in the Park production of this play will be held in January, and possibly also in March to fill any gaps we may encounter.  Rehearsals will begin in April.

Matt Regan, Dauphin
Nora Gordon, Bardolph, Sir Thomas Erpingham
Kirsten Schrull, Williams (he's in act IV I believe, so it's okay that you have to be a little late!)
Greg Phillips, Westmoreland, Rambures
Zeke Hecker, Cantebury, Burgundy
Bruce Holloway, Exeter, English Herald
Tyler Haselton, Cambridge, Burbon
Stephen Stearns, Pistol
Nick Bombicino, Nym, Montjoy
James Gelter, Henry
Jodi Clark, Fluellen
Skyler Heathwaite, York
Jem Wilner, Scroop, Governor of Harfleur, Bates
Kate Maisner, boy
Ian Bigelow, Gray, Court
John Orgorzalek, King of France
Emma Bliss,  Gower, Salisbury
Ethan Reichsman, Ely, Orleans, French Soldier
Katy Peterson, Alice
Nell Curley, Katherine
Jenny Holan, Quickly/Hostess, French Queen
Dan Mitnick, Chorus

If you will be more comfortable, please consider reading over your part once or twice to make sure you know what you're saying!

Details about the reading

DATE: Saturday 11/19 (sorry to those of you who will be out of town)

TIME: 3:00-6:30

LOCATION: SIT Campus, Grad building Auditorium

DIRECTIONS: Take Putney Rd. to Black Mountain Rd at the light across from the Putney Rd. Market. Follow Black Mountain Rd. over an I-91 overpass. After two rather sharp curves, Black Mountain Road bears to the left and turns dirt, but you need to stay on the paved road - Kipling Road, and take it to the top of the hill. Turn left at Dickinson Road—and take second right through to the end of the first parking lot, then up a little rise to the "Graduate Building." There is some parking outside the building. We will be in the "Auditorium" that is on the second floor.  We rehearsed Much Ado there last summer.

FOOD: There is no kitchen, but feel free to bring snacks, drinks, desserts, and crock pots full of goodness to share.  I'll bring some paper plates, napkins, and cups. (you should bring bowls or utensils if your contribution requires them!)

SCRIPTS: I will be printing 15 copies of the script - so we will do some sharing.  I have done some cuts and re-arranging of things, so be aware that the version I'm working from is unique and won't match up with any other "official" version.  BUT feel free to bring your version from home to reference any questions you may have!

See you all soon!  I'll send out another reminder as the date draws nearer!
Jess

A reading, just for fun p1

Hi all,
I was wondering if any of you amazing, beautiful, wonderful, and talented actorly folk would like to join me and my fight crew in reading Shakespeare's Henry 5. 

I'm directing it in 2012 and I just need some inspiration - and to hear it.  Auditions for the show are in January and March, and rehearsals begin in April.  It is VTC's Shakespeare in the Park this year, and they're gonna give us 2 WEEKENDS!!! very  unusual, and very exciting.

Of course this reading is Just For Fun, no pressure to join the cast... yet ;).  It will just help me and my team get our momentum going and get excited about this AWESOME show.

INFO
TIME: 3pm-6:30pm
DATE: Saturday 11/19 or Sunday 11/20 (currently undecided, weigh in if you like)
LOCATION: currently undecided, but in Brattleboro somewhere - SIT, Austine, or BS&L maybe.
FOOD: Bring it to share.  We have no kitchen facilities, but we will have a table set up buffet style for food-sharing.  We'll provide plates, etc.

Let me know if you can come and which day is better for you.  Thanks and love you all!
Jess

concise history of Henry

this is a personal sum-up with an important events timeline at the bottom.

http://www.britroyals.com/kings.asp?id=henry5

HENRY V: the other characters, in speaking order

Cantebury: young, energetic, ambitious, greedy - only in the first act

Ely: smarter than Cantebury and knows it, more of a butt-kisser - only in the first act

Westmoreland: FIERCELY LOYAL, like a brother from another mother - always with Henry (like his Horatio)

Exeter:  likes war A LOT, instigator, likes to be in the know about plots and gossip, FIERCELY LOYAL, BRAVE, wants to be so manly - great supporting role

Ambassador/Montjoy: honest, expressive, truly impressed by Henry - great supporting role

Bardolph: mediator, diplomat, great insight, ugly, gets hanged for stealing from a church - great supporting role, but he dies half way through the play

Nym: suggests extreme violence, but is pretty non-committal, hilariously full of paradoxes, ape-like? - disappears when the boy chooses to leave

Pistol: insulting, sounds like a lion or a drunk, sings, loyal to friends, wordy at times when speaking to betters, LOVES HARRY, fierce, humiliate-able - great supporting role

Hostess: a sexpot who has sexual tension with everyone - VERY cameo part

Boy: high standards, he is of a higher class than his friends, he is keen on manhood & honor, speaks french - great supporting role for a boy

Bedford: the kings brother... but he might get cut and split between Essex and Westmoreland and Bedford

Scroop: bedfellow and traitor to the king, great deciever, conservative, SO SO SO SO SO remorseful - only in one scene, but a GREAT opportunity to act and be acted upon

Cambridge: grounded and supportive of the king, well-honored, traitor - only in one scene

Grey: the most insincere of the traitors, of the lowest rank of the traitors, no one really cares about his betrayal - only in one scene

King of France: wise, careful, afraid of war from years of fighting, wily - in three scenes

Burgundy: poetic, diplomatic, the facilitator of peace - in two or three scenes

Dauphin: arrogant, proud, chauvinistic, hubrific - great supporting role

Constable: scolding, proud, warhonored, best armor of the nobility - great supporting role

Orleans: nothing to say... nothing special stuck out... might get cut or enmeshed with French Soldier/Rambures/Burbon

Governor of Harfleur: nothing to say... he is necessary for one scene... but he could just be a voice...?

Katherine: intelligent, stubborn, careful like her father, beautiful enough for Henry - great supporting role


Alice: cultured, lived in England, protective, straight-laced - great supporting role

Gower: serious, sidekick to Fluellen, Scottish?

Fluellen: spouting history constantly, the Welsh Homer, careful, valorous, praising peers, a bit strange, LOYAL - great supporting role


Glouster: brother of king, tough, peace maker, might get cut/divided between Westmoreland/Essex/etc...?


Rambures: a betting frenchman


Thomas Erpingham: an old knight, worthy to serve, with a good sense of humor - great cameo for an older man


Warwick: a tough guy or a peace maker... buddy to the king

Bates: English soldier, afraid, spiteful to the king, faithful

Court: English soldier - not so important, might get cut


Williams: English soldier, pessimist, comradierey, puts sin of war on king - for judgement day reckoning, wuarrels with the king, righteous, temper, poor, bad shoes - great supporting role in the latter half of the play

Salisbury: happy, optimistic, the guy everyone likes, kind, friend, valorous, princely

York: volunteers for the most dangerous mission, youngish

French Soldier: ready to be ransomed

Burbon: Fights to the end, French soldier, fears shame, has nothing to love?, might combine Rambores with this character to create a cavalier French noble


English Herald: not very interesting yet...

French Queen: slightly fierce, angry with Henry and unable to hold it in, strong & shares leadership with her husband - cameo, again...

Clarence: brother of king? may just cut...

100 yrs war

This is a wonderful site that give a great summary of the 100 yrs war.  Henry V and even Shakespeare's play is only a small portion of this war!


http://www.theotherside.co.uk/tm-heritage/background/100yearswar.htm

Oh Tom, Could US & Mexico be England & France?

In 1845, the United States annexed Texas. By 1846, the U.S. and Mexico were at war. By 1848, U.S. troops occupied Mexico City, and the United States of America were – by force of arms – vastly expanded into what had been northern Mexico.

California, Arizona, Utah, Nevada – all were swept up under the red, white, and blue of the American flag.

Today, as controversy boils over Arizona’s new immigration law and the U.S.-Mexico border is the scene of such turmoil, this history resonates again.


http://onpoint.wbur.org/2010/05/18/the-mexican-american

Theories on post WW2 us military theory

American makes too much war, says former soldier now scholar Andrew Bacevich. The country can’t afford it, he says. It’s not even good strategy anymore, he says. But it doesn’t stop. 

And it doesn’t stop for a reason. A whole matrix of interests and assumptions, writes Bacevich, propel the United States toward power projection and war – even when it’s not working.

http://onpoint.wbur.org/2010/08/11/andrew-bacevich-americas-militarism

Tom Ashbrook

He does my work for me.  Listen here to some stories of contemporary war:


http://onpoint.wbur.org/2011/05/30/military-blogging

Resource of Contemporary Vets

Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans' Association
http://iava.org/

Just a contemporary experience of war

A Soldier's Blog:

http://kaboomwarjournalarchive.blogspot.com/2010/01/another-long-overdue-update.html

Tom Waites Inspiration

So, war sucks, and its hard and dirty and gritty and wet. 
Is Tom Waites the sound of sitting in a foxhole in the rain, or trudging through mud to the next battle, or the sound of old and unwashed socks crusted with sweat and blood from sore feet?
Maybe...


Hoist That Rag :

Well I learned the trade from Piggy Knowles
and Sing Sing Tommy Shay, boys
God used me as a hammer, boys
To beat his weary drum today

Hoist that rag!
Hoist that rag!
Hoist that rag!

The sun is up, the world is flat
Damn good address for a rat
The smell of blood, the drone of flies
You know what to do if the baby cries

Hoist that rag!
Hoist that rag!

Hoist that rag!
Hoist that rag!

Hoist that rag!
Hoist that rag!

Hoist that rag!

Well, we stick our fingers in the ground,
heave and turn the world around
Smoke is blacking out the sun
At night I pray and clean my gun

The cracked bell rings as the ghost bird sings
and the gods go begging here
So just open fire when you hit the shore
All is fair in love and war

Hoist that rag!
Hoist that rag!
Hoist that rag!
Hoist that rag!
Hoist that rag!
Hoist that rag!
Hoist that rag!
Hoist that rag!

 Day After Tomorrow :

I got your letter today
and I miss you all so much here
I can’t wait to see you all
and I’m counting the days here

I still believe that there’s gold
at the end of the world
And I’ll come home to Illinois
on the day after tomorrow

It is so hard and it's cold here
and I’m tired of taking orders
And I miss old Rockford town
up by the Wisconsin border

What I miss, you won't believe
shoveling snow and raking leaves
And my plane will touch down
on the day after tomorrow

I close my eyes every nite
and I dream that I can hold you

They fill us full of lies, everyone buys
'bout what it means to be a soldier
I still don't know how I'm supposed to feel
'bout all the blood that's been spilled
Will god on this throne
get me back home
on the day after tomorrow

You can't deny, the other side
Don't want to die anymore then we do
What I'm trying to say is don't they pray
to the same god that we do?

And tell me how does god choose
whose prayers does he refuse?
Who turns the wheel
Who throws the dice
on the day after tomorrow

I'm not fighting, for justice
I am not fighting, for freedom
I am fighting, for my life
and another day in the world here

I just do what I've been told
We're just the gravel on the road
And only the lucky ones come home
on the day after tomorrow

And the summer, it too will fade
and with it brings the winter's frost dear
And I know we too are made
of all the things that we have lost here

I'll be 21 today
I been saving all my pay
And my plane will touch down
on the day after tomorrow
And my plane it will touch down
on the day after tomorrow

 

 

Misery Is The River Of The World :

Misery's the River of the World
Misery's the River of the World

The higher that the monkey can climb
The more he shows his tail
Call no man happy 'til he dies
There's no milk at the bottom of the pail

God builds a church
The devil builds a chapel
Like the thistles that are growing
'round the thrunk of a tree
All the good in the world
You can put inside a thimble
And still have room for you and me

If there's one thing you can say
About Mankind
There's nothing kind about man
You can drive out nature with a pitch fork
But it always comes roaring back again

Misery's the River of the World
Misery's the River of the World
Misery's the River of the World

For want of a bird
The sky was last
For want of a nail
A shoe was last
For want of a life
The knife was last
For want of a toy
A child was last

Misery's the River of the World
Misery's the River of the World
Everybody Row! Everybody Row!
Misery's the River of the World
Misery's the River of the World
Everybody Row! Everybody Row!

 

Cold Cold Ground (Live) :

Crest fallen sidekick in an old cafe
never slept with a dream before he had to go away
there's a bell in the tower
Uncle Ray bought a round
don't worry about the army
in the cold cold ground
now don't be a cry baby
when there's wood in the shed
there's a bird in the chimmney
and a stone in my bed
when the road's washed out
they pass the bottle around
and wait in the arms
of the cold cold ground
cold cold ground
there's a ribbon in the willow
and a tire swing rope
and a briar patch of berries
takin over the slope
the cat'll sleep in the mailbox
and we'll never go to town
til we bury every dream in
the cold cold ground
cold cold ground
gimme a Winchester rifle and a whole box of shells
blow the roof off the goat barn
let it roll down the hill
the piano is firewood
times square is a dream
I find we'll lay down together in the cold cold ground
cold cold ground
cold cold ground
call the cops on the Breedloves
bring a bible and a rope
and a whole box of rebel
and a bar of soap
make a pile of trunk tires
and burn 'em all down
bring a dollar with you baby
in the cold cold ground
cold cold ground
take a weathervane rooster
throw rocks at his head
stop talking to the neighbors
til we all go dead
beware of my temper
and the dog that I've found
break all the windows in the
cold cold ground
cold cold ground

  

 

Lullaby :

Sun is red; moon is cracked
Daddy's never coming back
Nothing's ever yours to keep
Close your eyes, go to sleep
If I die before you wake
Don't you cry, don't you weep

Nothing's ever as it seems
Climb the ladder to you dreams
If I die before you wake
Don't you cry, don't you weep
Nothing's ever yours to keep
Close your eyes; go to sleep

Sun is red; moon is cracked

 

 

Green Grass :

Lay your head where my heart used to be
Hold the earth above me
Lay down in the green grass
Remember when you loved me

Come closer don't be shy
Stand beneath a rainy sky
The moon is over the rise
Think of me as a train goes by

Clear the thistles and brambles
Whistle 'Didn't He Ramble'
Now there's a bubble of me
and it's floating in thee

Stand in the shade of me
Things are now made of me
The weather vane will say:
It smells like rain today

God took the stars and he tossed 'em
Can't tell the birds from the blossoms
You'll never be free of me
He'll make a tree from me

Don't say good bye to me
Describe the sky to me
And if the sky falls, mark my words
we'll catch mocking birds

Lay your head where my heart used to be
Hold the earth above me
Lay down in the green grass
Remember when you loved me

Lay your head where my heart used to be
Hold the earth above me
Lay down in the green grass
Remember when you loved me

Come closer don't be shy
Stand beneath a rainy sky
The moon is over the rise
Think of me as a train goes by

Clear the thistles and brambles
Whistle 'Didn't He Ramble'
Now there's a bubble of me
and it's floating in thee

Stand in the shade of me
Things are now made of me
The weather vane will say:
It smells like rain today

God took the stars and he tossed 'em
Can't tell the birds from the blossoms
You'll never be free of me
He'll make a tree from me

Don't say good bye to me
Describe the sky to me
And if the sky falls, mark my words
we'll catch mocking birds

Lay your head where my heart used to be
Hold the earth above me
Lay down in the green grass
Remember when you loved me

 

 

I don't wanna grow up

(Tom Waits/K. Brennan)

When I'm lyin' in my bed at night
I don't wanna grow up
Nothin' ever seems to turn out right
I don't wanna grow up
How do you move in a world of fog
That's always changing things
Makes me wish that I could be a dog
When I see the price that you pay
I don't wanna grow up
I don't ever wanna be that way
I don't wanna grow up

 

 

Little Trip To Heaven (On The Wings Of Your Love) :

Lazy trip to heaven on the wings of your love
Banana moon is shining in the sky,
Feel like I'm in heaven when you're with me
Know that I'm in heaven when you smile,
Though we're stuck here on the ground, I got something that I've found
And it's you.

And I don't have to take no trip to outer space
All I have to do is look at your face,
And before I know it, I'm in orbit around you
Thanking my lucky stars that I've found you,
When I see your constellation, honey, you're my inspiration, and it's you.

You're my north star when I'm lost and feeling blue,
The sun is breaking through the clouds don't you, don't you know it's true?
Honey, all the other stars seem dim around you
Thanking my lucky stars that I've found you,
When I see your smiling face, honey,
I know nothing ever going to take your place, and it's you.

And it's you, and it's you, and it's you, and it's you, and it's you
And it's you, and it's you, shoo-be-doo, ba-da-da.