The BBC produced lavish, star studded adaptations of Shakespeare's History Plays, first the Henriad in 2012, and then the War of the Roses series in 2016, all under the banner of The Hollow Crown. Far more cinematic than the famous BBC Shakespeare series which ran from the late 70s to the early 80s, and with a fairly consistent cast, the series feels like a blockbuster franchise, which, in the age of Game of Thrones (itself inspired by this source material), gives the whole thing an accessibility and excitement. They work both as rigorous adaptations of the Bard's plays and as delicious entertainment.
I've mostly been used to seeing productions (film and theatrical) of these plays independent of each other. This is the first time I've seen it presented as a series where I can follow both the historical and character arcs from one through to the end. It gave me a unique way to watch and experience these stories, seeing them as I never had before.
Richard II
This is the story which sets the stage for England's cycle of civil war, romanced in history as the War of the Roses. It is in many ways a study in national leadership and the ways that leadership can lose hold and succumb to different visions. Headed by Ben Wishaw in an award winning performance this telling is presented as tragedy, a tale without "bad guys" but only those striving for their varying moralities. While I've seen productions which portray Richard's weakness as the problem, often personified in his effeminacy, his queerness, this version, which quite clearly paints Richard in a more sympathetic light, casts an openly queer actor in the role and queer codes him, but for a different purpose. I found it fascinating in how this film sees his governance approach more positively, while still giving his rival Bollingbroke a moral centre as well, ending with the usurping as at best a necessary evil and at worst, illegitimate, an illegitimacy which we will see the following play adaptations are going to struggle with. And at its centre is a remarkable performance by Wishaw. All it all it sets the stage for a series of events which will flow from Richard losing the crown and the legacy spilling out from that.
Henry IV Parts One and Two
Jeremy Irons takes over the role of Bollingbroke, now King Henry IV, as he manages ruling his kingdom and managing his wayward son, Hal, played here by Tom Hiddleston. As some of the more popular plays in the Bard's oeuvre, it's hard not to enjoy this story regardless of the production and The Hollow Crown does a good job of balancing the political machinations of the court with the drunken fun of Hal and his tavern companions. Simon Russel Beale is masterful as the famously popular Falstaff, and accompanying him as Mistress Quickly is Julie Waters, also completely delightful in this role. At the centre of these films (and the next) is Hiddleston playing Hal, portrayed here differently than we are often used to, at least in film. Instead of being as heroic as he is often portrayed, here with Hiddleston in the role, he is entitled and spoiled as a youth and resigned to his own hypocrisy as an adult. He appears to struggle for that sense of legitimacy that he wants but feels he never quite gets. The two worlds of this narrative are contrasted and then blended very well as this story's rather fulfilling arc, one filled with both pathos and humour, generally very entertaining, and as part of a larger whole, chapters which make you want to see what happens next.
Henry V
Unlike the famous film versions of this play, this Henry is less the heroic and noble. He is often presented as scheming, searching for the justification of his rule that his father chased after. He remains somewhat that irreverent youth playing at king. His claim to France, made so justly in other adaptations here feels more like an angry reaction from a jilted scoundrel. He's not unjust, he's just not as much the pinnacle of British kingship which he is often celebrated as in adaptations of this play, one of the best known and most enjoyed. Henry doesn't die in the text of this play but this film both begins and ends with his funeral set as framing sequence. This leads us into Henry VI and into the decline of this dynasty. This is likely the most pessimistic adaptation of this play I have seen and sets us into the next chapter.
Other adaptations have attempted to pull in references to the past plays to present the real power of the death of Falstaff and the participation in battle of Falstaff's crew. But this time, being part of this series, it comes quite naturally and the power of it is palpable, as is Henry's reaction to it all. I think I felt the impact of these losses more fully here than I have in other adaptations where it felt like back story. Here it felt like a conclusion of a fully developed story, one of the benefits of seeing this presented as a series.
There are three plays named Henry VI, Part One, Part Two, and Part Three, but The Hollow Crown boils them down to two parts. While I have not read or seen productions of the three Henry VI plays, from what I have heard, this is likely for the best. There plays were written earlier than those chronologically before them and many believe Shakespeare had collaborators for these ones. They are often considered inconsistent and less engaging than the very popular plays in the first Henriad and the final play Richard III.
But The Hollow Crown runs with them, crafting a Shakespearian Game of Thrones full of intrigue, back stabbing, battles, burnings, sex, and all kinds of soapy drama, The war of the roses truly goes into high gear here. The Yorkists and Lancasters famously choose their coloured roses in one of the opening scenes and the battle is fantastically on.
The cast remains deliciously wonderful in their scenery chewing scheming. Especially standing out is Sophie Okonedo masterfully as Margaret who is the star of this show. Honestly these two parts make up some of the most entertaining of chapters. These events are often cited as the inspiration for George R.R. Martin's epic so why not present them in a similar form. It's tantalizing and pure enjoyment. And the fact it plays right into Richard III, one of my favourite of the Bard's plays, makes it all so exciting.
Richard III
While I've seen many adaptations of Richard III, this is the first time I've seen it presented as a "sequel" the the Henry VI plays, and even a culmination of the first Henriad as well. This presentation feels like the crescendo, the climax of a long arc and it is a satisfying one. Anchored by Cumberbatch's strong performance Richard III is final act in an opus and it is glorious.
The Hollow Crown as a whole was a delightful, powerful, enlightening, and engaging journey through an epic, on a Lord of the Rings scale. While none of the individual episodes eclipses my favourites of the other individual adaptations, as a whole it is a unique experience and entirely satisfying. It is a study in how governance is riddled with the sorts of pitfalls which allow for tyrants and injustice, but even in all this pessimism there is hope that the realm can somehow find its way through to recovery again. And perhaps right now in history, this hope is necessary.
The Hollow Crown
Starring: Ben Wishaw, Patrick Stewart, Rory Kinnear, James Purefoy, Jeremy Irons, Tom Hiddleston, Simon Russel Beale, Julie Waters, Michael Gambon, Sophie Okonedo, Sally Hawkins, Judy Dench, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Ritter, Richard Griffiths
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