Once more unto the breach, babyyyyy.

Shakespeare’s North Productions is back with another modernised take on The Life of Henry V, whilst faithfully preserving the text. Directed by Eli Hancock, and co-produced by Gabby Clark, this is a show that honours the legacy of the bard while ushering a new generation of Shakespearean talent.

The bulk of this cast is clearly on the younger side which injects a breath of fresh air into a 400 year old play. Even though the language is authentic, the delivery is modernised and easier to digest through more dynamic movements and cheeky asides that help convey the meaning of the text beyond dialogue. However, the young ones are not thrown to the wolves, with a pair of ‘grown-ups’ in place to ground the play in maturity when it needs it. It’s a fascinating dynamic that fully makes use of its multi-generational talent.

Chris O’Grady is one such grounding force with a stage presence that looms large whenever he stands tall, and sturdy. The audience doesn’t need to be told anything. The moment he stands, all conversations in The Dome cease. The other ‘mature’ player in this play is Allan Burne, who looks and sounds like this is just how he acts outside of this play. His line delivery is impeccably natural, and fully immerses you in the play. I swear they just ripped this guy out of the 1600s.

Leading the play is Katy Comar as the titular King Henry V. Her performance feels appropriately like a warpath, marching around the stage and rallying both her fellow cast and the audience. She commands attention with the best of them, and her authority is unchallengeable, right up until she finds herself in opposition to Madeleine James‘ delightfully playful Katharine. James’ range is just incredible, managing to convincingly convey distraught herald, Montjoy, begging for a change to secure their dead comrades, straight into a cheeky Katharine who weaponises her lack of English to get out of a marriage in the same play.

Jesse Franks brings the darkest energy in the play, with a heavy performance in both voice and posture. It feels like both his words and his chest are being pulled down by their weight in every scene, his facial expressions almost unseen by the lowering of his face. In contrast, David Fourie brings something lighter, something more wide-eyed as the Dauphin. He’s constantly looking up and allowing the audience to soak in every emotion he’s putting out there. This pair of energies adds a fantastic dynamism to the already building momentum.

On the character side, we have Margot Allais who I think is the only actual French speaker in the play. She does a great job as Alice, and embodies that lady-in-waiting sass so naturally that I kinda want to have her follow me around and back me up in every day life. Lily-Rose Parker is another powerful character force who could honestly perform her entire role through her eyebrows. She has a great mastery of micro-expressions and a fierceness as King Charles that strikes fear into the entire room.

Leander Mason is a phenomenal orator, going on for paragraphs and paragraphs without a single stumble. His delivery is constantly clear, well-rehearsed and technically flawless. Just an astounding level of technical prowess. On the other hand, Matthew Wongchoti is just a master of space manipulation. His performance is loaded with snappy movements and seamless gestures that refocus the entire scene around him. If you were to film him, the camera would never catch him in transition, he’s just so clean on his key frames. Someone cast this guy in a courtroom drama.

Rounding out the on-stage cast is Connor Hurnard, on what I believe is a cello, but I’m no virtuoso. He does a great job providing atmosphere when it’s needed, and sudden bursts of energy before the audience even notices a lull. The deep notes that ring out across the stage perfectly match the vibe and deepen the show’s gravitas.

Big cast! With so many moving parts for an audience to keep track of, it certainly begs the question of how well Shakespeare translates into the modern era. With the actual words being preserved in a play like this, we do have to reckon with the fact that, as language continues to evolve away from Shakespearean times, it becomes harder to understand. I’ll admit, there were times when I would register the words, but be unable to decipher what was actually being said. Fortunately, Eli Hancock has a solution.

There are so many moments in the show where actors will offer a cheeky aside in the middle of somebody else talking. These serve a dual purpose; first of all, the audience loves it, and more importantly, they accurately convey the emotions of the scene without interrupting the flow of the speech. It’s a risky move, splitting focus like this, but when they’re done in such a way that offers the audience an alternate path to understanding the story, you always end up understanding what’s going, regardless of who captures your attention.

The Life of Henry V by Shakespeare’s North Productions is both an authentic Shakespeare experience and an accessible version of a classic. It demonstrates that Shakespeare can still be relevant by coaching a new generation of talent while honouring the old guard to make a show that can be appreciated by anyone. There’s a lot of thought that’s gone into this version that’s filled with performers that give it their all even when tackling tasks that aren’t their natural forte.

Like French.

The Life of Henry V is running from the 24th to the 29th of August at BATS Theatre. Tickets available from the BATS website.

Disclosure: As a somewhat active member of the Wellington performing arts community, I may be quite familiar with a number of the performers in this show. Having said that, I am not a liar, and there is zero bias in my reviews, shut up.

Also, tickets were provided to me for free by the production. Literally changes nothing, though.