Henry IV, Part 1 (1990, Michael Bogdanov) part 10 of 17

rest of Act III, scene i

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

Hotspur - Andrew Jarvis
Edmund Mortimer - Stephen Jameson
Owen Glendower - Sion Probert
Earl of Worcester - Philip Bowen
Lady Percy - Ann Penfold

Director Michael Bogdanov


Arthur C. Sprague writes:

In an earlier chapter, I suggested that a producer of "Richard II" might be judged, in the first instance, by what he did with the Gardeners Scene. The Welsh Scene in "1 Henry IV" is, perhaps, even more exacting. This was long neglected...it had wholly disappeared from the stage by the end of the 18th centrury...

In performance, the clash of temperments between Hotspur and Glendower is easy to enjoy.

Glendower. I can call spirits from the vasty deep.
Hotspur. Why, so can I, or so can any man; But will they come when you do call for them?

The sole danger is exaggeration. For the portentousness of the Welshmans's manner need not in itself be ridiculous...Irony is present, besides humour, in the quarrelling of these rash men over the division of a country not yet theirs. We should be made to feel, indeed, that they are doomed; that this is a final parting they are taking with their wives, its pathos only half concealed beneath the cheerful banter which Hotspur keeps up with Lady Percy. Nor does the variety of the scene end even here. Mortimer, as he speaks of

ditties highly penn'd
Sung by a fair queen in a summer's bower,
With ravishing division, to her lute

and Glendower as he translates for his daughter, a moment later, startle us with poetry of a sort unheard elsewhere in the play and strangely moving here.

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• Shakespeare
• King-Henry-IV
• 1H4
• Ann-Penfold
• Andrew-Jarvis
• Stephen-Jameson
• play
• theatre

[MrGuilen]

One of the best scenes...