In focus: Adrian Noble 1984

Adrian Noble’s post-Falkland War production featured a youthful Kenneth Branagh as Henry V.

Theatrical poster featuring a night scene with a young man in long cloak in front of a brazier in a muddy field — Poster for Henry V, 1984, Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Directed by Adrian Noble © RSC Browse and license our images

"Rainy marching in the painful field" Henry V, Act 4 Scene 3

Adrian Noble’s production opened at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in March 1984 before transferring to the Theatre Royal, Newcastle upon Tyne and the Barbican Theatre, London, the following year.

Director Noble was keen to stress the brutality of war and its effect on the individual. The production reminded us that war “is a game to the French, a tactic to the English and a tragedy to individual humanity”, Michael Billington, Guardian, 18 May 1985.

HERO-KING OR SCOURGE OF GOD?

The programme for the production included articles by historians advocating different interpretations of Henry V: was he an heroic monarch or a brutal faith-driven avenger?

YOUTHFUL HENRY

Kenneth Branagh was the youngest actor to play the role with the company at 23, beating Paul Scofield (24) in 1946 and Richard Burton (26) in 1951. He was even younger than the real Henry V who was 28 at the Battle of Agincourt (1415).

Branagh revisited the role when he directed and starred in a film version of Henry V for Renaissance Films in 1989.

PRODUCTION PHOTOS

Kenneth Branagh as Henry in Adrian Noble's 1984 production of Henry V. Reviewers thought Branagh brought out the inner complexities of Henry V and commended the clarity of his big speeches.

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

"A bridge between the play and the audience", Ian McDiarmid, The Times, 9 April 1984
Ian McDiarmid's Chorus was on stage throughout Adrian Noble's 1984 production of Henry V. He provided a cynical and lively commentary on the action. His Chorus was deliberately theatrical wearing modern-dress black and addressing the audience from a spotlight. He was a constant reminder that this was a play. The night before the battle of Agincourt, he wandered downstage, shining a torch over Henry V's slumbering soldiers.

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

Bardolph (John Rogan) and Pistol (Bernard Horsfall) say farewell to Mistress Quickly (Patricia Routledge) in Adrian Noble's 1984 production of Henry V.

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

Patricia Routledge as Mistress Quickly in Adrian Noble's 1984 production of Henry V.

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Mistress Quickly (Patricia Routledge) prepares to part from Pistol (Bernard Horsfall) in Adrian Noble's 1984 production of Henry V.

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Montjoy (Christopher Ravenscroft), the Dauphin (Nicholas Woodeson) and the Duke of Orleans (Ian MacKenzie) discuss the approach of the English army in Adrian Noble's 1984 production of Henry V.

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Brian Blessed as the Duke of Exeter in Adrian Noble's 1984 production of Henry V.

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The French Cavalry descend from a shining gantry in Adrian Noble's 1984 production of Henry V.

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The Constable of France (Richard Easton) surveys the battlefield in Adrian Noble's 1984 production of Henry V.

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Henry (Kenneth Branagh) rallies his troops for battle in Adrian Noble's 1984 production of Henry V.

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

Henry (Kenneth Branagh) urges on his men before the walls of Harfleur in Adrian Noble's 1984 production of Henry V.

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

Henry (Kenneth Branagh) reads out the list of casualties to his men, in Adrian Noble's 1984 production of Henry V.

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Henry (Kenneth Branagh) woos Katherine, the French Princess (Cecile Paoli) in Adrian Noble's 1984 production of Henry V.

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

Fluellen (Sion Probert) makes Pistol (Bernard Horsfall) eat a leek in Adrian Noble's 1984 production of Henry V.

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

Henry (Kenneth Branagh) places the crown on his head, as lords and soldiers kneel around him.

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Act 3 Scene 1

King Henry Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more...
Now set the teeth and stretch he nostril wide
Hold hard the breath, and bend up every spirit
To his full height!

Henry (Kenneth Branagh) delivers his powerful rousing speech during the siege of Harfluer.

Photo by Joe Cocks © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

Act 4 Scene 8

Henry V Was ever known so great and little loss on one part and on the other?
Take it, God, for it is none but thine!
Duke of Exeter 'Tis wonderful!
Henry V Come, go we in procession to the village...

Henry receives news of the numbers of men killed in battle and praises God that the English losses were so few compared to the French.

Left to right:
Duke of Exeter - Brian Blessed
Henry - Kenneth Branagh

Photo by Joe Cocks © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

Henry (Kenneth Branagh)

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Henry (Kenneth Branagh, centre) rallies his troops for battle.

Photo by Joe Cocks © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

The English soldiers prepare to go into battle with the French.

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Act 2 Scene 4

The French discuss the approach of Henry and the English army.

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Act 4 Scene 1

Henry V O God of battles! steel my soldiers' hearts;
Possess them not with fear; take from them now
The sense of reckoning, if the opposed numbers
Pluck their hearts from them.

Alone in the English camp before battle, Henry (Kenneth Branagh) prays, asking God to strengthen his soldiers.

Photo by Joe Cocks © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

Charles VI, King of France (Sebastian Shaw)

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Act 5 Scene 2

King Henry And therefore tell me, most fair Katharine, will you have me?
Put off your maiden blushes; avouch the thoughts of your heart with the looks of an empress;
take me by the hand, and say 'Harry of England', I am thine'

King Henry (Kenneth Branagh) claims Princess Katherine of France (Cecile Paoli) for his wife after winning the battle of Agincourt. Their union will ensure that Henry and his heirs will inherit France as well as England.

Photo by Joe Cocks © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

Launch Gallery

CREATING OTHER WORLDS: BOB CROWLEY'S DESIGNS

Award winning designer Bob Crowley has worked on many productions for the company including Les Liaisons Dangereuses in 1986. He usually starts the design process by sketching on a white card a basic three-dimensional design, which is eventually translated into a model box (a miniature version of the stage and set). The design process is very detailed as the creative team make thousands of decisions about colour, texture, light and the position of items on stage. Crowley has always emphasised the importance of space on stage and tries to avoid too much clutter which might detract from the words spoken.

In the examples above we see Crowley's storyboard sketch and the accompanying model box set for Act 2 Scene 2, where Henry V exposes the traitors in Southampton before leaving for France. The action takes place in front of a simple white curtain stretched across the lower part of downstage.

You can see more of Crowley's designs for Adrian Noble's Henry V in the following storyboard, sets and costume galleries:

Storyboard gallery

Storyboard for Act 2 Scene 2 of Henry V, 1984, by designer Bob Crowley.

Storyboard for Act 4 Scene 1 of Henry V, 1984, by designer Bob Crowley.

Storyboard for Act 4 Scene 2 of Henry V, 1984, by designer Bob Crowley.

Storyboard for Act 5 of Henry V, 1984, by designer Bob Crowley.

Storyboard for the Prologue to Act 1 of Henry V, 1984, by designer Bob Crowley.

Storyboard for Act 3 Scene 4 of Henry V, 1984, by designer Bob Crowley.

Storyboard for Act 3 Scene 6 of Henry V, 1984, by designer Bob Crowley.

Storyboard for Act 5 of Henry V, 1984, by designer Bob Crowley.

Storyboard for Act 5 Scene 3 of Henry V, 1984, by designer Bob Crowley.

Storyboard for Act 3 Scene 1 of Henry V, 1984, by designer Bob Crowley.

Storyboard for Act 2 Scene 4 of Henry V, 1984, by designer Bob Crowley.

Storyboard for Act 3 Scene 7 of Henry V, 1984, by designer Bob Crowley.

Storyboard for Act 3 Scene 3 of Henry V, 1984, by designer Bob Crowley.

Storyboard for Act 2 Scene 1 of Henry V, 1984, by designer Bob Crowley.

Launch Gallery

SETS GALLERY

Model box of designer Bob Crowley's set for Henry V, 1984, Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

One of designer Bob Crowley's sets for Henry V, 1984, Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

One of designer Crowley's sets for Henry V ,1984, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, showing the gantry from which the French cavalry descend.

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

Model box of designer Bob Crowley's set for Henry V, 1984, Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

Model box of designer Bob Crowley's set for Henry V, 1984, Royal Shakespeare Theatre, showing the gantry from which the French cavalry descend.

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

One of designer Bob Crowley's sets for Henry V, 1984, Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

Launch Gallery

Costume gallery

Black jacket and trousers with red and blue tabard and black belt worn by Kenneth Branagh as Henry V, 1984, designed by Bob Crowley.

Black leather gauntlet with blue and red trim, gold decoration and chain mail, worn by Kenneth Branagh as Henry V, 1984, designed by Bob Crowley.

Photo by Gina Print © RSC Browse and license our images

Costume design sketches by Bob Crowley for Henry V, 1984, showing three different outfits for Kenneth Branagh as Henry and one for Brian Blessed as the Duke of Exeter.

Costume design sketches by Bob Crowley for Henry V, 1984, featuring Kenneth Branagh (Henry V), Sebastian Shaw (Bishop of Ely, Charles VI) and Richard Easton (Constable of France).

Costume design sketch by Bob Crowley for Cecile Paoli as Katherine in Henry V, 1984.

Costume design sketch by Bob Crowley for the formal dress worn by Cecile Paoli as Katherine in Henry V, 1984.

Costume sheet for Cecile Paoli as Katharine in Henry V, 1984, designed by Bob Crowley.

Launch Gallery

“Now Herald are the dead numbered? Henry V, Act 4 Scene 8

After his victory at the Battle of Agincourt, the French Herald hands Henry V a list of the French dead and high ranking prisoners, then a list of the English fatalities.

Casualty figures

According to Shakespeare, 10,000 French were killed, including 126 nobles, compared with just 25 English dead. Historian Anne Curry has estimated the losses more like 2,000 for the French and 100 for the English. The French forces comprised about 12,000 men outnumbering Henry V’s army which totalled about 8,500.

Learn more about the history of the battle:

How Henry V won the Battle of Agincourt , BBC iWonder

Agincourt or Azincourt? Victory, Defeat, and the War of 1415 by Helen Castor, Gresham College

Young man in armour reads a letter while another man waits in the background — Montjoy (Christopher Ravenscroft) watches as Henry (Kenneth Branagh) reads the list of dead in Henry V, 1984.
Photo by Joe Cocks Studio Collection © Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Browse and license our images

CREATING PROP LETTERS

Here we see the three prop letters read by Henry V (Kenneth Branagh) in the Adrian Noble's 1984 production.

Each letter is an accurate version of the names listed for the French dead, the French prisoners and English dead, as they appear in Shakespeare’s Henry V.

Our props team have used calligraphy and yellowed paper to imitate medieval handwriting and parchment.

Discover more about prop making in How We Make Theatre .

PROP LETTERS

List of French dead at the Battle of Agincourt read by Henry in Act 4 Scene 8 of Henry V, 1984, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

List of English dead at the Battle of Agincourt read by Henry in Act 4 Scene 8 of Henry V, 1984, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

List of French prisoners captured at the Battle of Agincourt read by Henry in Act 4 Scene 8 of Henry V, 1984, the Royal Shakespeare Theatre.

Launch Gallery

Theatre programme cover for Henry V 1984 featuring Kenneth Branagh sitting on throne in muddy field

CAST AND CREATIVES

COMPANY

Royal Shakespeare Theatre

Adam Bareham – Gower

Brian Blessed - Duke of Exeter

Kenneth Branagh – Henry V

Martin Challis – Irvine, Simon, Boy

Yvonne Coulette - Alice

Derek Crewe - Nym

Richard Easton - Constable of France

Dexter Fletcher - Boy

Paul Gregory - Westmoreland

Norman Henry - Governor of Harfleur, Thomas Erpingham

Bernard Horsfall - Pistol

Harold Innocent - Canterbury

Andrew Jarvis – Court, Earl of Cambridge

Arthur Kohn – Grey, MacMorris

Ian Mackenzie – Duke of Orleans

Ian McDiarmid - Chorus

Paul McGreevy - Boy

Peter Miles - Grandpre, Boy

Cecile Paoli - Katherine

David Phelan – Prince John

Criag Priestley - Boy

Sion Probert - Fluellen

Christopher Ravenscroft - Montjoy

Andy Readman - Soldier

John Rogan - Bardolph

Patricia Routledge - Mistress Quickly

Jonathan Scott-Taylor - Humphrey, Gloucester

Sebastian Shaw - Bishop of Ely, Charles VI

Stephen Simms – Lord Scroop

Malcolm Storry - Williams

David Taylor - Boy

Peter Theedom – Bates, Jamy

Wayne Weatherhead - Boy

Nicholas Woodeson - Dauphin

Sarah Woodward - Soldier

CREATIVES

Director – Adrian Noble

Designer - Bob Crowley

Lighting designer – Robert Bryan

Music - Howard Blake

The RSC's archive is held at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. You can visit the Library and Archives there to look at production related information, including photos, videos of shows and stage management documents:

Shakespeare Centre Library and Archive homepage

You can search the RSC catalogue here:

RSC performance database

"Rainy marching in the painful field" Henry V, Act 4 Scene 3

HERO-KING OR SCOURGE OF GOD?

YOUTHFUL HENRY

PRODUCTION PHOTOS

CREATING OTHER WORLDS: BOB CROWLEY'S DESIGNS

Storyboard gallery

SETS GALLERY

Costume gallery

“Now Herald are the dead numbered? Henry V, Act 4 Scene 8

Casualty figures

CREATING PROP LETTERS

PROP LETTERS

CAST AND CREATIVES

COMPANY

CREATIVES

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