Live Theatre Review of Henry V

Introduction
On Friday 15th November, we went to watch the play of Henry V at the Unicorn Theatre in Southwark, London. The play was written by Ignace Cornellisson and directed by Ellen McDougall. The story goes back to the time where Henry V of England tries to claim that he is heir to the throne of France after the death of Charles the VI of France in 1328.

I thought that the audience for this play was for kids in key stage 2, so kids aged 7-11.  The reason for this is because the producer included several things that would appeal to kids at this age. One of these things was that they used balloons to represent the soldiers, so when the balloons were popped, that would represent the soldiers being killed. This is much more suitable because kids do not want to see violence and blood representing the death of the soldiers, so this is not only more suitable for kids, it also doesn't scare them with all the bloody references and violence. Another one of these things was that they used colours for both of the respective countries, with France being coloured in blue, and England in red. This made it better for kids because kids absolutely love colours. Another thing that they used to make it suitable for kids was that they used a sandbox on wheels to represent France. This made it suitable for kids, because kids absolutely love sand and they like to play and build sandcastles with it.

I thought that the setting of the play was one very effective aspect of the performance, for example the setting of France was presented on a sandbox on top of a snooker table painted blue on wheels. I thought this was very effective because it is not only different from other settings, but it is also very unique and creatively done by both the producer and director. I think the fact that France was staged on a sandbox and England was just on the stage floor made it more shown to the audience that France was the bigger priority and the more important country in the eyes of Henry V, as he was doing all he could to claim the throne of France after the death of Charles the V. During a part of the play, sandcastles are knocked down and then rebuilt again. The sandcastles being built represented the castles in

I thought the way that the actors in Henry V were all interacting with the audience was very effective, especially the narrator as most of the lines he said were all amusing to the audience. I think the fact the interaction from the actors to the audience was included in the play suited the target audience as well, because a large percentage of the audience were kids in key stage 2. I think the facial expressions the narrator was adding to the amusement of the audience. So the facial expressions and dialogue were combined together to create amusement in the audience. I think the interaction also created an emotional connection between the actors and the audience, in particularly the narrator as he was telling the audience most of what was happening in the story. 

Conclusion
I think overall, these parts of the play were very effectively performed and presented. I thought that the interaction between the actors and the audience was very effective because it developed an emotional connection between the actors and the audience. I also thought that the setting was effective because I think that it showed the audience that France was the more important country in the eyes of Henry V. I also thought that the things that were used to show who the target audience was, like the balloons were very effective in showing who the play was aimed at, because children that age absolutely love balloons.