Director Andy Burden describes this small-scale production, with just four actors, as Shakespeare for the Twitter generation – but don't let that put you off. This is pared down, running at 85 minutes, yet remains an engaging drama bristling with the themes of the original. What this new version adds is a playful ingenuity and great spirit, both of which complement Shakespeare's powerful storytelling.
With the house lights still up, Mark Ross, in white long johns and white shirt, sits with the audience. "Alright up here, innit?" he says. He picks up a copy of Henry V and is immediately gripped, though you note that he starts tearing pages out with glee. As a prelude to the show, it encompasses all that's good here: things done simply, a determination to connect with the audience, a sense of humour, and in that outfit (which all four cast wear, adding accessories and jackets to denote each character) a liberating sense of a blank canvas.
From there, Burden prunes the original and encourages us, as Shakespeare does, to let our "imaginary forces work". Key scenes and speeches are retained, familiar phrases abound – though not necessarily in the usual order – and there's a great pace to proceedings, without it ever feeling rushed or silly. Where there are limitations, such as the four of them as Captains of England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland with rather wobbly accents in places, these are embraced humorously.
This is never going to have the impact of a full production, but it doesn't claim to. Instead, with four terrific actors, a dressing-up box and a great, timely story to impart about power, politics and war, it's testimony to how much you can do with those ingredients, and just how far they can take you imaginatively.
