Shakespeares King Harry :: William Shakespeare Plays Literature Essays

Director and playwright Kenneth Haigh once said, You need three things in the theatrethe play, the actors and the audience, and each must give something. (Robertson 159) How true that these three components must work together toward the success of a play each contributing to the beauty of live theatre. Upon directing a play, one ought to have complete control of the first two aspects (namely, the play and the actors) as they are consciously chosen and painstakingly molded and manipulated. However, the audience is an entirely separate matter. One does not necessarily get to hand-pick ones audience yet, control is still possible. Theoretically, theatre-goers depart contribute two things to a production first, they ordain bring with them a personal history, and secondly, they will have a reaction informed by this history. Thus, an ken of what the audience might bring to the play is crucial in anticipating their response. Of course, every spectator will be divergentculture, ag e, race, politics, religion, gender and any number of factors will all play a part. But with careful consideration of these possibilities, a good director ought to expect what response the audience will have to different aspects of the production. This can only be an advantage, as preparing for the crowds contribution will allow one to direct the play and actors in a way of life that will produce the desired response. An audiences tears, laughter, horror, confusion, shock, applause, etc. should all be controlled (to a certain degree) by the director. In taking this into consideration, plays written in the pastintended for theatres and audiences of the pastcan take on great and exciting changes when brought to audiences of the present and future. William Shakespeares Henry V is no exception to this rule. In light of recent circumstances in the United States of America, a contemporary performance of Shakespeares Henry V would be quite poignant by staging the character of King H arry as a mediocre (but at times likeable) leader, in order to expose the humanity of men in times of war.The parallels between Henry V and the United States of Americas current political affairs are quite notable. Drawing upon these in a present day performance of Henry V would be quite engaging and inviting to the appropriate audience. Initially, King Harry is remembered as a vain, giddy, shallow, humorous early days (2.