Henry V and The Winter’s Tale

THEATRE: UK

“Shakespeare as it should be done, fast, sinuous and surprising.” The Independent (UK)

Celebrated for combining a rigorous approach to the text with an exciting, physical aesthetic, all-male Shakespearian company Propeller brings two of the Bard’s most popular plays to the 2012 Festival: Henry V and The Winter’s Tale.

Artistic Director Edward Hall’s inventive approach has seen A Comedy of Errors set on a tacky 1980s package holiday island and Richard III in a Victorian hospital. Hall’s Winter’s Tale is a nightmare of family disintegration. Wrote The Daily Telegraph: “Can you care for a heavily pregnant queen brought to the point of death by the accusations of her insanely jealous husband when she’s played by a balding thirty-something bloke with what looks like a pillow stuffed up his dress? The answer, in Edward Hall’s superlative all-male production of The Winter’s Tale, is a resounding ‘yes’.”

One of Shakespeare’s most famous plays, Henry V tells the tale of the greatest British warrior in English folklore. At a time when increasing numbers of British servicemen and women are seeing active service, Propeller brings its own unique take to the story. Dangerous, thrilling and deeply moving, Henry V travels from the corridors of Westminster to the battlefields of France.

Wrote The Independent of Propeller: “The overriding feeling is of a Shakespeare pulsing with muscular life – fresh, physical and utterly modern.’’ Edward Hall is also Artistic Director of the Hampstead Theatre, London, and the son of renowned British theatre director Sir Peter Hall.

Henry V and The Winter’s Tale are at the Opera House from 29 February to 4 March as part of the 2012 New Zealand International Arts Festival, Wellington, 24 February – 18 March. Tickets $38 – $78 available from Ticketek. Save 15% when you buy an A or B ticket for both Henry V and The Winter’s Tale.

ENDS

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