Henry IV, Part 1 (1990, Michael Bogdanov) part 7 of 17

more of Act II, scene IV

Shakespeare's "King Henry IV, Part 1" performed by the The English Shakespeare Company

Henry Prince of Wales - Michael Pennington
Bardolph - Colin Farrell (actor born 1938)
Poins - Charles Dale
Falstaff - Barry Stanton
Mistress - Quickly June Watson

Director Michael Bogdanov

Samuel Johnson on "The Unimitable Falstaff":

But Falstaff unimitated, unimitable Falstaff, how shall I describe thee? Thou compound of sense and vice; of sense which may be admired but not esteemed, of vice which may be despised, but hardly detested. Falstaff is a character loaded with faults, and with those faults which naturally produce contempt. He is a thief, and a glutton, a coward, and a boaster, always ready to cheat the weak, and prey upon the poor; to terrify the timorous and insult the defenceless. At once obsequious and malignant, he satirises in their absence those whom he lives by flattering. He is familiar with the prince only as an agent of vice, but of this familiarity he is so proud as not only to be supercilious and haughty with common men, but to think his interest of importance to the duke of Lancaster.

Yet the man thus corrupt, thus despicable, makes himself necessary to the prince that despises him, by the most pleasing of all qualities, perpetual gaiety, by an unfailing power of exciting laughter, which is the more freely indulged, as his wit is not of the splendid or ambitious kind, but consists in easy escapes and sallies of levity, which make sport but raise no envy. It must be observed that he is stained with no enormous or sanguinary crimes, so that his licentiousness is not so offensive but that it may be borne for his mirth.

The moral to be drawn from this representation is, that no man is more dangerous than he that with a will to corrupt, hath the power to please; and that neither wit nor honesty ought to think themselves safe with such a companion when they see Henry seduced by Falstaff.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Shakespeare
• King-Henry-IV
• 1H4
• Michael-Pennington
• Barry-Stanton
• play
• theatre

[Lytton333]

I thought the punk-rock image was invented in the 1970s.. apparently I was mistaken , it was the 1370's.. how silly of me..

[Nelsonhojax15]

People keep saying its a "modern dress interpretation." But this version really isn't, it's more of a mix of different styles

[Jeepyismylove]

@Lytton333

Punk, the kind birthed by the Sex Pistols that is, is only one form of punk. Punk is rebellion, the demand for change. Marinetti, Mayakovsky, Jacob, and Tzara were all punks in their own right---they weren't dressed in leather or stuck with pins.

[TheImpossibleMan]

This guy is a good Falstaff but Anthony Quayle was better.

[JamesMorphettTV]

doesn't do a lot for me, this modernised version.  What a shame the producer had to spoil it.