Druid create magic with epic Shakespeare work

REVIEW BY JUDY MURPHY

English history and English wars are the subject matter of Richard II, Henry IV (Parts I and II) and Henry V, which have been abridged by Irish playwright Mark O’Rowe for Druid’s latest undertaking, Druid Shakespeare. These kingly names are not ones that trip lightly off Irish tongues – we know little about England’s history prior to the reign of the Tudors, at which point it becomes bitterly entwined with our own.

So at first, it might seem daunting for an audience to enter this messy world, which involves English monarchs constantly looking over their shoulders and trusting not even their closest family.

But, while this is English history, the characters and themes of these plays are universal and DruidShakespeare, directed by Garry Hynes, is a wonderful achievement – frequently dark and often hilarious.

It opens at breakneck speed as Richard II intervenes in a row between his kinsman, Henry of Bolingbroke, and Sir Thomas Mowbray. From the get-go there is skulduggery and deception and when Richard makes an ill-judged call to exile the pair, his fate is sealed.

The drama that unfolds over the first three plays is largely confined to England. Bolingbroke returns from exile and, with the backing of various noblemen, overthrows Richard who is off fighting a war in Ireland. Claiming the crown, Bolingbroke becomes Henry IV, and the following two plays, Henry IV Parts I and II, deal with his attempts to reign and retain power. All the time, he despairs over his son and heir Prince Hal, a drunkard and a wastrel who is given to mixing with London’s lowlife. But when a serious crisis strikes and Henry IV’s former allies attempt to seize the throne, Hal comes good. In the 1403 Battle of Shrewsbury, he kills his namesake, Harry Hotspur the Earl of Northumberland and the greatest threat to the Crown.

Hal goes on to become a force to be reckoned with, and in Henry V, this once errant prince succeeds in his bid to reclaim England’s lost territory in France at the 1415 Battle of Agincourt.

Mark O’Rowe’s adaptation of the four plays has cut out many extraneous characters and subplots, while remaining faithful to their essence and interlinking stories. It is a fair achievement and Druid has more than done justice to the script.

For more, read this week’s Galway City Tribune.