Henry IV Part 1
Director: Gregory Doran
Writer: William Shakespeare
Cast: Antony Sher, Alex Hassell, Jasper Britton, Sam Marks, Trevor White, Paola Dionisotti

Plot:
After taking over the throne from Richard II, Henry IV (Jasper Britton) struggles with his conscience and the reign as disquiet is brewing in the country. Meanwhile his son Hal (Alex Hassell) spends his time with women, getting drunk and a fair bit of thieving with his partner in crime and debauchery, Falstaff (Antony Sher). But as the provocations of the rebels around Hotspur (Trevor White) continue, it becomes clear that things will not end peacefully.

Henry IV Part 1 is a beautifully set in scene, well-acted production of a play I did not find access to at all. I thought it was boring, particularly because I didn’t care much for the main characters.

Henry IV is famous mostly for Falstaff, but honestly I don’t get the appeal of that character at all. Why is a drunk, misogynistic fool such a great character anyway? People always speak with such great admiration of him. Plus, both he and Hal are absolute assholes and I don’t see why I should root for them in the first place. But much of the play hinges on the fact that you find their shenanigans at least entertaining.

Well, I did not. I disliked Falstaff intensely (in case that wasn’t clear yet). And Hal wasn’t much better. When they treated each other and everyone around them like shit, I was annoyed at worst, bored at best.

Without an appreciation of the two of them, the play becomes kind of a drag. And that is nothing to do with the production or the cast because both were excellent. I liked the stage design in particular.

It’s not that there was nothing in the play that I liked but these things were few and far between. And I guess that’s Shakespeare’s fault in this case.

Summarizing: The production is good, the play less so.