Richard II
Jonathan Slinger as Richard II.
Jonathan Slinger played the title role and, for the first four acts, wore opulent clothes, makeup and a wig, and held an ornate sceptre, creating an effeminate look. ‘Jonathan Slinger’s Richard loved the camp splendour of court ceremony and "dressing up" and at times resembled Elizabeth I in her prime’, said Michael Boyd.
Richard II
Hannah Barrie as the Queen and Jonathan Slinger as Richard II.
During the deposition scene, Richard shed his wig, and appeared on stage in a plain robe without makeup. A shower of dust and sand engulfed Richard, depicting the lines spoken by the Duchess of York: 'Where rude misgoverned hands from windows tops / Threw dust and rubbish on King Richard's head.'
Henry IV Part I
David Warner as Falstaff.
David Warner returned to the RSC for the first time in 40 years to play the drunken, loveable Falstaff and had the ability to light up the room by his very presence.
Henry IV Part II
Clive Wood as Henry IV and Geoffrey Streatfeild as Prince Hal.
Henry IV's insomnia in Part II was amplified by the ghost of Richard II haunting his footsteps. The parallels between the two kings were reinforced by the shower of dust that, having once engulfed Richard, rained on Clive Wood's ailing king.
Henry V
Wela Frasier as the Boy and Geoffrey Streatfeild as Henry V.
Geoffrey Streatfeild played a young Henry with vulnerability, bearing the weight of public responsibility.
Henry V
The Company of The Histories Cycle.
The staging for Henry V involved the whole auditorium: in battle sequences the English soldiers burst out of a central trap-door from below the stage, scaling vertical ladders. In contrast, the French forces occupied the aerial space – hanging from trapezes they wore elaborate brightly-coloured costumes.
Henry VI Part I
Katy Stephens as Joan la Pucelle.
Katy Stephens doubled as both Joan la Pucelle and Queen Margaret, with Michael Boyd’s edit of the script meaning Margaret did not appear until after Joan’s death. Margaret stepped forth from the empty space almost immediately after Joan was burned at the stake and swallowed by the smoke from one of the stage’s trapdoors.
Henry VI Part II
The Company of The Histories Cycle.
In Henry VI Part II, the rebellion, led by Jack Cade (John Mackay), was composed of the animated corpses of characters who had been killed off in this and previous plays, including Lord Talbot and his son, the murdered Duke of Gloucester, and a headless Suffolk.
Henry VI Part III
Chuk Iwuji as Henry VI.
Red and white feathers were used extensively throughout the production, dropped from above at various moments throughout the cycle to represent battle, murder, martyrdom, prophecy, coronation, justice, innocence and guilt.
Richard III
Jonathan Slinger as Richard III.
Michael Boyd’s modern-dress production came at the end of the first tetralogy of Shakespeare Histories covering the Wars of the Roses. Jonathan Slinger played the deformed Richard – but with his shaved head and leg brace over his trousers, showed he wasn’t ashamed of his deformities.
Richard III
Chuk Iwuji as Henry VI and Lez Shrapnel as Richmond.
Throughout The Histories Cycle, the dead always reappeared in the guise of the living. Here, in Richmond's dream, Henry VI appears the night before the Battle of Bosworth and hands him his sword.