In the performance I saw (and the line-up changes, show to show), there were four female cast members and one male. As is often the case with all-female, all-male, or gender-blind casts, this sometimes made me forget about the gender of the characters entirely, and sometimes made me focus on gender even more.
What I found most striking in Henry V was that it was where female actors were playing female roles that it felt most like a caricature. I don’t know if this would have been the same had I seen male actors in those roles, but as it was, it was noticeable that the women were performing being women in a way that it wasn’t so obvious that, for instance, Zena Carswell was playing Henry as a man.
This put me in mind of a lecture I had at university about the performativity of gender. We were shown a clip of Some Like It Hot, with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in drag – and then Marilyn Monroe sashaying along and putting on an unmistakeable performance of femininity.
It seems there’s something about men playing women or women playing men being juxtaposed with women playing women that makes you notice just how much of a performance gender is.
Aside from the gender thing, this production of Henry V had some interesting ideas around social class, some fine comedic acting, and some very rousing speeches (particularly the St Crispin’s Day speech). And that was just with the cast I saw – there’s a whole other line-up possible and I’m sure each version brings a different slant to it.
Merely Theatre are currently on tour with Henry V and A Midsummer Night’s Dream – see their website www.merelytheatre.co.uk for full tour details.
