Henry V
The Hundred Years War ends in England’s agonising defeat – but triumph for Jonathan Sumption
England’s final, agonising defeat in the Hundred Years War brings Jonathan Sumption’s monumental history to a close. David Crane salutes 43 years of research and writing
The real Dick Whittington and the folklore legend
In that dark world the air pulsed with the melancholy clangour of bells. If, as legend has it, the chimes…
This year's must-see Shakespeare? Four hours of history in Dutch
James Woodall talks to the Belgian director Ivo van Hove, who has brought a swathe of Shakespeare’s history plays to the stage in Dutch (four hours of it)
Henry IV: unsightly usurper and megalomaniac
Poor old Henry IV: labelled (probably unfairly) as a leper, but accurately as a usurper, he has been one of…
Agincourt was neither necessary, nor great. We’re mad to celebrate it
Can anyone explain this sudden enthusiasm for Agincourt, that unexpected victory over the French, now being celebrated, or rather commemorated,…
Shakespeare at his freest and most exuberant: The Wars of the Roses reviewed
The RSC’s The Wars of the Roses solves a peculiar literary problem. Shakespeare’s earliest history plays are entitled Henry VI…
Our Country’s Good prizes the concerns of the actors over the audience
Australia, 1788. A transport ship arrives in Port Jackson (later Sydney harbour) carrying hundreds of convicts and a detachment of…
The drama of St Crispian’s Day: Shakespeare got it right
Charles VI of France died on 21 October 1422. He had been intermittently mad for most of his long reign,…
The fascinating history of dullness
At least I’ve got my husband’s Christmas present sorted out: the Dull Men of Great Britain calendar. It is no…
Jude Law's Henry V is a buccaneer leading a stag-night raid across the continent — but he'd be a great Macbeth
Henry V is the final show in Michael Grandage’s first West End season. The theatre was full to bursting on…
