All eight plays in Shakespeare's History Cycle now running at the Royal Shakespeare Company's Courtyard Theatre
22 January 2008
"The most imaginative Shakespeare staging of this millennium"
Financial Times
"One of the greatest events of modern theatre"
The Guardian
"Our greatest national epic"
The Daily Telegraph
The Royal Shakespeare Company is now offering audiences the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness Shakespeare’s take on nearly 100 years of English history.
Back in 2006 RSC Artistic Director, Michael Boyd assembled an ensemble of over 30 actors to embark on a two and a half year journey to stage Shakespeare’s epic history cycle of eight plays.
All productions in the acclaimed and ambitious Histories project - Richard II, Henry IV Parts I and II, Henry V, Henry VI Parts I, II and II, and Richard III – are now running in repertoire at the RSC’s Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon until Sunday 16 March 2008. In April the productions transfer to The Roundhouse in London for an eight week season.
Staging History
See The Histories in the order that Shakespeare wrote them.
Between Thursday 6 – Sunday 9 March, the History Cycle will be performed in the order in which Shakespeare wrote the plays, the order in which his audience would have seen them, and the order in which they have been rehearsed and staged over the past two years. Under the title of Staging History the performance order will begin with the three parts of Henry VI, followed by Richard III, Richard II, the two parts of Henry IV and ending with Henry V.
...and in chronological order in
The Glorious Moment
Between Thursday 13 – Sunday 16 March, The Glorious Moment will see the project reach its climax as the entire cycle is performed chronologically over four days, and for the final time in Stratford-upon-Avon.
Michael Boyd, RSC Artistic Director, and director of seven of the eight productions, said: “I think this is the first time that Shakespeare’s History Cycle has been staged by one company of actors. It is also the RSC’s fullest expression and celebration of ensemble theatre-making for many years. The increased trust and understanding amongst the actors has paid dividends on our work in the rehearsal room and on stage, and has led to a more satisfying and engaged relationship with our audiences.”
The Histories Companion – a full-colour 74 page commemorative booklet featuring photos from the productions and interviews with members of the company - is now available from RSC Shops and online at www.rsc.org.uk/shopping at £5 (excluding postage).
The Histories acting ensemble comprises: Nicholas Asbury, Hannah Barrie, Keith Bartlett, Maureen Beattie, Antony Bunsee, Rob Carroll, Richard Cordery, Matt Costain, Julius D’Silva, Keith Dunphy, Wela Frasier, Geoffrey Freshwater, Paul Hamilton, Alexia Healy, Kieran Hill, Tom Hodgkins, Chuk Iwuji, John Mackay, Forbes Masson, Chris McGill, Patrice Naiambana, Luke Neal, Sandy Neilson, Ann Ogbomo, Miles Richardson, Lex Shrapnel, Anthony Shuster, Jonathan Slinger, Katy Stephens, Geoffrey Streatfeild, James Tucker, David Warner, Roger Watkins and Clive Wood.
Joining Michael Boyd on the creative team are: Richard Twyman (Associate Director, and director of Henry IV Part II), Tom Piper (Designer, and co-Costume designer, Henry V), Emma Williams (Costume designer, Henry IV Parts I and II, and co-Costume designer, Henry V), Heather Carson (Lighting), James Jones and John Woolf (Music), Liz Ranken (Movement), Andrea J. Cox (Sound), Terry King (Fights), Matt Costain (Director of Rope Work) and Donnacadh O’Briain (Assistant Director).
Further information
The Histories
The Royal Shakespeare Company
performing at The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
In repertoire until 16 March 2008
Box Office: 0844 800 1110, www.rsc.org.uk
For more press information please contact:
For the performances in Stratford:
Nada Zakula
01789 412622
nada.zakula@rsc.org.uk
Dean Asker
01789 412660
dean.asker@rsc.org.uk
For the Histories at the Roundhouse:
Philippa Harland
020 7845 0512
mailto:philippa.harland@rsc.org.uk
Facts and figures
- Across the eight productions, 34 actors play 264 parts. Each part is understudied, meaning that 528 parts have been rehearsed and prepared. On average each actor plays and understudies a total of 15 parts each.
- The project has involved around 90 weeks of rehearsal, and 12 weeks of understudy rehearsals.
- At time of writing over 175,000 people have seen or have booked to see The Histories in Stratford.
- Food used in the productions includes: strawberries, bacon sandwiches, grapes, croissants, cappuccinos, apples, bread and pistachio nuts.
- Other props include: 4 bucketfuls of sand; confetti; feathers; and 100 tennis balls (which the Props Department continually need to replenish as members of the audience sometimes take them home as souvenirs!)
- The production involves more than 120 weapons and 30 guns.
- For each performance of Henry VI Part III 3 litres of stageblood is pumped up through the stage. Two litres of stageblood is used in a similar way for each performance of Richard II.
- The eight productions have just over 800 costumes. Costumes are held on 80 costume rails, and boots, crowns, hats and jewellery are kept in 30 costume skips. After each performances 8 loads of washing is required.
- For all eight productions the Wigs and Make-Up Department have created: over 40 wigs and hairpieces (each wig can take up to 48 hours to make).
- The Wigs and Make-Up Department is also responsible for supplying the actors with stage blood. In all 8 shows over 15 litres of stage blood (made from glucose/ice-cream colouring) is used. For special blood effects the department uses colostomy bags filled with stage blood. Tubes are fitted to these bags, and mortician’s wax is placed at the end of the tubes. When the desired effect is required the actor squeezes the bag and the wax seal is broken. Each actor is also supplied with Krylom make-up, used to produce a muddied look.
- The number of words in all eight plays is, in total, in the region of 210,000.
- Excluding intervals, if all eight plays were played back to back, it would equate to 1389 minutes (just under 24 hours) of drama.
Performances
At The Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
All eight productions run in repertoire until Sunday 16 March 2008.
Box Office: 0844 800 1110, www.rsc.org.uk
At the Roundhouse, London
All eight productions run in repertoire between 1 April – 25 May 2008.
Box Office: 0844 482 8008 or online at www.roundhouse.org.uk
Images
Production images from the eight productions are available to download by registering with www.epo-online.com
