Henry 5.0 gives Shakespeare a modern twist

Five men in expensive suits sat stiffly at a long wooden table. In front of them were folders containing battle plans, potential obstacles and the objectives of going to war. They spoke with an air of superiority, as four of the men lavished compliments on their leader, who was seated at the head of the table. His confidence swelled as the cabinet guaranteed a swift victory and a legacy of greatness. The men’s secret agendas were hard to discern beneath their earnest smiles, but their scheming eyes were unmistakable. Finally, swept up in the patriotic fervor of the moment, the king commits to war. His punctuated speech about the necessity of action is a veiled acknowledgement that thousands of soldiers will die.

The scene is suggestive of the oval office in the days leading up to the Iraq invasion, but the poetic prose and complex metaphors sprinkled throughout the conversations stand in sharp contrast to the language of Dubya. The year is 1415, and the man leading his country to war is Henry V of England. A modern day adaptation of William Shakespeare’s classic play is currently running at the Players’ Ring in Portsmouth. “Henry 5.0,” directed by John Geoffrion, will be performed three nights a week through July 1.

On a recent Sunday evening performance, about 25 people filled the small theater on Marcy Street, which was sweltering after one of the first hot days of summer. An audience member fanned herself with a program, and many cast members broke into a sweat as they ran on and off the stage, changing costumes and characters with seamless proficiency. Rochester resident Christopher Savage played a total of five characters, shifting between a constable of France, the Duke of Burgundy, a French Ambassador, Lord Scroop and an English soldier.

The only things that make Geoffrion’s version of Henry V different from the original are the costumes and the props. The characters switch quickly between nice suits, combat fatigues and formal military uniforms, depending on the scene. The weaponry includes handguns—a far cry from the medieval armaments of Shakespeare’s day. The cast even uses a PowerPoint presentation and laser pointer to detail the genealogy of the royal family and explain who needs to be eliminated in order for Henry (Chris Curtis) to rule France. The use of such modern props often evoked snickers from the crowd.

The characters, language and story are all straight out of Shakespeare’s original play. Henry’s cabinet still goads him into “invoking his warlike spirit.” He still has to deal with treasonous dukes, resentful soldiers and a formidable French army on the fields of Agincourt. In the hours before the final battle, Henry puts on a common soldier’s uniform and wanders through the camp, gauging his men’s feelings toward their king and the impending battle. They are weary but brave, and their loyalty to the king wavers but never breaks. 

It takes a rousing speech, one that has been imitated countless times in pop culture, to raise the men’s spirit and ready them for war. “We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; for he today that sheds his blood with me shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile, this day shall gentle his condition; and gentlemen in England now-a-bed shall think themselves accurs’d they were not here, and hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks that fought with us upon St. Crispin’s day,” Henry pledges.
With this, the English go to war and achieve victory. Their spoils include all of France, as well as the hand of Princess Katherine (Carolyn Connolly) for Henry. At the treaty ceremony, faux camera flashes pop as Henry and Katherine kiss. The audience laughed at the play’s imitation of a modern day press conference.

Unlike George W. and the modern architects of war, Henry V and his cabinet actually join their men in battle, making the same sacrifices as the common soldier. But the performance of “Henry 5.0” is more about the masterful language and undeniable energy of the cast than it is about politics. The modern twists to this classic play make it more palatable for 21st century tastes. Only the battle scene, which includes a soundtrack that booms with artillery fire and low flying planes, comes off as a bit of a stretch. But the climactic delivery of the famed St. Crispin’s Day speech withstands the tests of time.