Antic Disposition: Henry V

After a highly acclaimed tour in 2016, Antic Disposition’s production of Shakespeare’s Henry V returns to embark on a tour of eight of the UK’s most historic and beautiful cathedrals.

Marking the ongoing centenary of the First World War, Antic Disposition’s reimagining is set in a French military hospital in 1915 – 500 years after the Battle of Agincourt – where two groups of wounded soldiers, one French and one British, decide to raise their spirits by staging a production of Henry V.

Moving effortlessly between 1415 and 1915, Antic Disposition’s Henry V combines Shakespeare’s epic history play with original songs and live music inspired by the poetry of A E Housman, in a powerful tribute to the young soldiers caught up in conflicts five centuries apart.

Performed by a talented international cast of British and French actors, the production celebrates the rich and often turbulent relationship between our two nations, from the Hundred Years War to the Entente Cordiale.

Henry V will visit eight of the UK’s most spectacular cathedrals, including Ripon, Lincoln, Peterborough, Ely and Norwich, as well as Beverley and Southwell Minsters. The tour will begin and end with four special performances in the beautiful Southwark Cathedral on Bankside in the heart of Shakespeare’s London.

Directors Ben Horslen and John Risebero comment: Henry V is a project close to our hearts. In this First World War centenary year, we’re delighted to be sharing the production, and the company’s work, with new audiences in the north and east of England, and honoured to be performing in some of the most remarkable medieval buildings in the country.

Award-winning theatre company Antic Disposition, founded by director Ben Horslen and director/designer John Risebero, is best known for presenting innovative and visually striking productions of classic plays and stories in spectacular historic buildings. Recent London productions include: A Christmas Carol in the Elizabethan setting of Middle Temple Hall, The Comedy of Errors in Gray’s Inn Hall and Romeo and Juliet in the Temple Church.

Henry V has previously toured France, received two London runs, and has been performed in Winchester, Salisbury, Bristol, Gloucester and Worcester Cathedrals and Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon, burial place of William Shakespeare, as part of 2016’s Shakespeare400 celebrations.