Henry V by William Shakespeare, directed by Des McAnuff, Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Stratford, Ontario by David B. Gallagher

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Aaron Krohn as King Henry V. Photo by David Hou.


Henry V
by William Shakespeare

Festival Theatre, Stratford Shakespeare Festival, Stratford, Ontario
until September 29

Director – Des McAnuff
Set Designer – Robert Brill
Costume Designer – Paul Tazewell
Lighting Designer – Michael Walton
Composer – Michael Roth
Sound Designer – Peter McBoyle
Dramaturge – Robert Blacker
Choreographer – Nicola Pantin
Fight Director – Steve Rankin
Ariel Stunt Coordinator – Adrian Young
Archery – Matt Richardson
Associate Director – Lezlie Wade
Associate Costume Designer – Jenna McCutchen
Assistant Lighting Designer – Tristan Tidswell
Assistant Sound Designer – Verne Good
Assistant Dramaturge – Jacob Gallagher-Ross
Assistant Fight Director – Todd Campbell
Fight Captain – Wayne Best
Stage Manager – Maxwell T. Wilson
Assistant Stage Managers – Kathleen Harrison, Angela Marshall, Cynthia Toushan
Production Assistant – Kelsey Rae
Production Stage Manager – Margaret Palmer
Technical Director – Jeff Scollon

Cast:
The English
King Henry V – Aaron Krohn
Duke of Bedford – Ryan Field
Duke of Gloucester – Tyrone Savage
Duke of Exeter – Timothy D. Stickney
Earl of Westmorland – Stephen Russell
Archbishop of Canterbury – James Blendick
Bishop of Ely – David Collins
Lieutenant Bardolph – Randy Hughson
Ensign Pistol – Tom Rooney
Corporal Nim – Christopher Prentice
Boy – Sophia Walker
Hostess – Lucy Peacock
Earl of Cambridge – Victor Ertmanis
Lord Scrope of Masham – Dan Chameroy
Sir Thomas Grey – Roy Lewis
Captain Gower – Wayne Best
Captain Fluellen – Ben Carlson
Captain MacMorris – Keith Dinicol
Captain Jamy – Stephen Gartner
Sir Thomas Erpingham – Randy Hughson
John Bates – David Collins
Alexander Court – Roy Lewis
Michael Williams – Luke Humphrey
Earl of Salisbury – Christopher Prentice
Duke of York – Xuan Fraser

The French
King Charles VI – Richard Binsley
Queen Isabel – Claire Lautier
Louis the Dauphin – Gareth Potter
Catherine – Bethany Jillard
Alice – Deborah Hay
Montjoy – Juan Chioran
Governor of Harfleur – Dan Chameroy
Constable – Michael Blake
Duke of Orléans – Stephen Garnter
Duke of Burgundy – Xuan Fraser
Lord Rambures – Dan Chameroy
Lord Grandpré – Victor Ertmanis
Monsieur le Fer – Keith Dinicol
Messenger – Roben Hutton

The prologue to Henry V is not only an appeal for the audience to indulge its imagination. It is an encomium to the art of acting and its capacity to teach us how to live. It sharpens our sensibilities to the parallels between drama and reality, the stage and the world, the past and the present. It evokes sympathy in us for ourselves as much as for the actors, and it prepares us to recognize a moral lesson in every chronicle. So when he has the Chorus urge us to “piece out our imperfections with your thoughts; / Into a thousand parts divide on man / And make imaginary puissance,” Shakespeare puns on the plural pronoun, hinting that he is about to effect a catharsis, a flushing out of our “imperfections” in the very act of pretending that what happens on stage is real.

Read the full review on the Berkshire Review, and international journal for the arts!