I Would Be Wooed by Henry V

 It was my great honor and privilege to be in the audience for the Friday performance of Henry V at the Globe Theatre on July 13th.  Oh my heavens, the experience was incredible.  I don't think I can use words to describe it...

... though I realize I say that a lot, and you've got to be saying, "Katie, what's the point of having a blog when you can't explain anything?"  Ok, fair point.

First, I should explain that I had a "groundling" ticket, meaning that I stood on the floor of the theatre through the performance (really close to the stage, though), and in true open-air theatre, we got rained on.  Not sure how many people would willingly put up with that for Shakespeare, but I so would.

I think every other performance of Henry V I've seen has cut this out, but there was an actress who acted as narrator - she conceded on behalf of the play that no, we were not in the fields of France, but we'll have to use our imagination.  Also, at various points in the play, we the audience were addressed as lords of the king's court or soldiers.  I mean, the amazing speeches that Henry gives were given to us, and oh, I would have been ready to fight a battle for him.

Plus, he was drop dead handsome and charming.  There's been quite a bit of hand-fanning myself when I talk about him, I'll be honest.

There was a lot of grittiness in this performance.  The actors would stumble out from backstage literally spattered and smeared with stage dirt and blood.  So cool.

And of course, the acting was mind-blowingly good.  As I exited the theatre, giddy with this more-than-usual Shakespeare high (see picture below), I could hear people (mostly American, I admit) saying things like, "It was pretty good" or "I liked it".  All fair statements in their own right, but I pitied these people who didn't know just how amazing it was.

I don't want to seem elitist and full of myself.  I think we all need to recognize that there are levels of appreciation to any form of art.  Those other audience members certainly enjoyed the play - it was exciting, there was battle, there was love - but then there are those who feel the words and rhythm and emotions deep down in that cavern of the soul.  St. Paul talks about the inexpressible groaning that comes with praising God, and I feel like that same idea applies to my love of Shakespeare - I can't truly express myself, so I just groan a little bit and say it was amazing.

The other reason I love Shakespeare so much is that it's different every time.  When I saw Wicked last week, it was pretty much the same as every other time I've seen it.  I have seen Henry V in the last few years, but this was almost like a whole different play.

Oh, and I almost forgot to explain this post title.  In Act V, Henry tries to ask the French princess Catherine to marry him, except he can't speak French and her English is very broken.  Henry bumbles around in his speech, and it's adorable.  I was pretty much squirming and giggling through the whole scene.

I also got some really sweet pictures of the Millennium Bridge and St. Paul's at night - wow.