Soho theatre, London
Nina Bowers and Philip Arditti claw passionately at Henry V’s colonialism and imperialism in their frequently funny and at times deliberately uncomfortable play
When Englishness is being weaponised on the streets, how should we respond on the stage? In the wake of the UK’s largest ever far-right rally, as the St George’s cross increasingly becomes a racist dog-whistle, this depressingly timely production is a rallying cry against unquestioned nationalism. A theatrical vendetta against Shakespeare’s Henry V, English Kings Killing Foreigners is a scrappy, headstrong two-hander interrogating theatre’s role in politics and protest. “All the flags,” Nina Bowers waves her hands, “isn’t it a bit National Front?”
Shakespeare’s propagandistic history play has come to symbolise a bastion of English heroism, with the plucky “warlike Harry” mightily defeating the French. But as Bowers and Philip Arditti point out through energetic debates and playful sketches, the 1599 play champions colonialism, imperialism and extreme anti-foreign sentiment. This isn’t a new idea, with several productions, such as Headlong’s remarkable 2022 rendition, engaging with the texts’ extreme xenophobia. But hurling Shakespeare’s band of brothers into the centre of their set-less stage, Bowers and Arditti claw passionately at the text, tearing it apart and asking whether there’s any acceptable way they can piece it back together.
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