Fun and Games

SCENE VII. Another part of the field.

EXETER

Soldier, you must come to the king.

KING HENRY V

Soldier, why wearest thou that glove in thy cap? slight sarcasm, its a game 

WILLIAMS

An't please your majesty, 'tis the gage of one that

I should fight withal, if he be alive.

KING HENRY V

An Englishman? still game like 

WILLIAMS

An't please your majesty, a rascal that swaggered

with me last night; who, if alive and ever dare to

challenge this glove, I have sworn to take him a box

o' th' ear: or if I can see my glove in his cap,

which he swore, as he was a soldier, he would wear

if alive, I will strike it out soundly.

KING HENRY V

What think you, Captain Fluellen? is it fit this   still slightly sarcastic, brings Fluellen into his game, Volume 

soldier keep his oath?                                            slightly rises as he is calling Captain Fluellen, tempo is natural

FLUELLEN

He is a craven and a villain else, an't please your

majesty, in my conscience.

KING HENRY V

It may be his enemy is a gentleman of great sort, emphasis as he is referring to himself,  giving clues 

quite from the answer of his degree.

FLUELLEN

Though he be as good a gentleman as the devil is, as        Henry takes in what Fluellen is saying, it is here Henry 

Lucifer and Belzebub himself, it is necessary, look           thinks of giving Fluellen the glove. 

your grace, that he keep his vow and his oath: if              

he be perjured, see you now, his reputation is as

arrant a villain and a Jacksauce, as ever his black

shoe trod upon God's ground and his earth, in my

conscience, la!

KING HENRY V

Then keep thy vow, sirrah, when thou meetest the fellow.

WILLIAMS

So I will, my liege, as I live.

KING HENRY V

Who servest thou under?       Henry wants to crack on with his plan so sends Soldier away 

WILLIAMS

Under Captain Gower, my liege.

FLUELLEN

Gower is a good captain, and is good knowledge and

literatured in the wars.

KING HENRY V

Call him hither to me, soldier. direct, dismissed

WILLIAMS

I will, my liege.

Exit

KING HENRY V

Here, Fluellen; wear thou this favour for me and Tempo is fast, instruction, background information, volume

stick it in thy cap: when Alencon and myself were personal

down together, I plucked this glove from his helm:

if any man challenge this, he is a friend to

Alencon, and an enemy to our person; if thou  important instruction, direct, personal

encounter any such, apprehend him, an thou dost me love.

FLUELLEN

Your grace doo's me as great honours as can be

desired in the hearts of his subjects: I would fain

see the man, that has but two legs, that shall find

himself aggrieved at this glove; that is all; but I

would fain see it once, an please God of his grace

that I might see.

KING HENRY V

Knowest thou Gower?

FLUELLEN

He is my dear friend, an please you.

KING HENRY V

Pray thee, go seek him, and bring him to my tent. direct, dismissing Fluellen, tempo is faster 

FLUELLEN

I will fetch him.

Exit

KING HENRY V

My brother Gloucester, direct, volume is personal

Follow Fluellen closely at the heels: tempo fast 

The glove which I have given him for a favour

May haply purchase him a box o' th' ear;

It is the soldier's; I by bargain should

Wear it myself. Follow, good brother Gloucester: direct, order 

If that the soldier strike him, as I judge

By his blunt bearing he will keep his word,

Some sudden mischief may arise of it;

For I do know Fluellen valiant

And, touched with choler, hot as gunpowder,

And quickly will return an injury:

Follow and see there be no harm between them. direct, order

Go you with me, uncle of Exeter. direct, order 

Exeunt

Henry sees the soldier Michael Williams, the soldier that he argued with and exchanged gloves with the night before. Henry plays a game between Williams and Fluellen when he gives Williams’s glove to Fluellen and tells him to wear on his cap, Henry states that he won it valiantly from Alencons helmet when they were fighting and that anyone who attacks Fluellen over it must be a traitor. Henry then goes after them to see the game unravel. This is a fun scene where Henry after his victory becomes a little bit looser and enjoys some fun at Fluellen and Williams expense. 

Transition in volume and tempo

SCENE VII. Another part of the field.

GOWER

Here comes his majesty.

Alarum. Enter KING HENRY impact, haste in walk, slight pace, and forces; WARWICK, GLOUCESTER, EXETER, and others

KING HENRY V

I was not angry since I came to France I, emphasis on angry and France, volume is loud and powerful 

Until this instant. Take a trumpet, herald; ‘Take a trumpet Herald’-direct, emphasis on instant  and take 

Ride thou unto the horsemen on yon hill: I, direct, tempo is fast 

If they will fight with us, bid them come down, I

Or void the field; they do offend our sight: I

If they'll do neither, we will come to them, I 

And make them skirr away, as swift as stones  I, emphasis on the three s

Enforced from the old Assyrian slings: I

Besides, we'll cut the throats of those we have, I, pause after the besides for thought

And not a man of them that we shall take I, slightly savage, anger had taken over

Shall taste our mercy. Go and tell them so. I hang on mercy, direct and dismissive ‘tell them so’ 

Enter ONTJOY

EXETER

Here comes the herald of the French, my liege.

GLOUCESTER

His eyes are humbler than they used to be.

KING HENRY V

How now! what means this, herald? know'st thou not questions, lighter side of anger 

That I have fined these bones of mine for ransom? after ‘fined’ volume starts to rise emphasising anger 

Comest thou again for ransom? Volume loud, questions 

Tension between Henry and Montjoy 

MONTJOY

No, great king:

I come to thee for charitable licence,

That we may wander o'er this bloody field           Henry calms down, he listens to Monjoy and can take into 

To look our dead, and then to bury them;             account what he is saying. He sees the images Montjoy is painting

To sort our nobles from our common men.          and strips this angry, proud and snappy demeanour into more of  

For many of our princes--woe the while!—         a approachable slightly vulnerable one.

Lie drown'd and soak'd in mercenary blood;

So do our vulgar drench their peasant limbs

In blood of princes; and their wounded steeds

Fret fetlock deep in gore and with wild rage

Yerk out their armed heels at their dead masters,

Killing them twice. O, give us leave, great king,

To view the field in safety and dispose

Of their dead bodies!

KING HENRY V

I tell thee truly, herald, softer in voice, lower in volume, direct 

I know not if the day be ours or no; I,sincere, looking for answer 

For yet a many of your horsemen peer I, 

And gallop o'er the field. waits for answer 

MONTJOY

The day is yours.

PAUSE to take in victory 

KING HENRY V

Praised be God, and not our strength, for it! I, volume loud, happiness, Henry is victorious, he is in his element 

PAUSE, see the castle 

What is this castle call'd that stands hard by? I, questions, tempo is slow, volume is natural 

MONTJOY

They call it Agincourt.

KING HENRY V

Then call we this the field of Agincourt, I.proud, standing his ground, announcing to all, tempo slow, volume rising 

Fought on the day of Crispin Crispianus.- extremely emphasised, volume risen and loud, strong, bask in the Crispin Crispianus moment 

In this scene Henry goes up and down with his emotions, feeling angry towards the start and relief and fulfilment towards the end. Henry starts off of a fast spinning wheel of revenge and frustration, a fast paced motion that is hard to stop, when Herald/ Montjoy comes in he puts a slight spanner in this wheel slowing him down and calming him, with his reflection and thoughts on the current war. After listening to Montjoy, it is revealed that Henry just wants to know what is going on as he doesn't even know if he has won the war or not. When he finds out he has won all the tension in his body and all the anger in his voice and face leaves as he is overcome with pride. Volume and tempo are important in this scene as the fast paced tempo and high volume transition into the softer volume and slower tempo the audience can see just the impact of the war and revelation. 

Henry and Exeter

SCENE VI. Another part of the field.

Alarums. Enter KING HENRY and forces, EXETER, and others

KING HENRY V

Well have we done, thrice valiant countrymen: motivation, complement emphasis on valiant 

But all's not done; yet keep the French the field. Iambic Pentameter, instruction follows emphasis on keep  

( Volume is loud as in battlefield and trying to reach his voice to all his men with motivation but also instruction) 

EXETER

The Duke of York commends him to your majesty.

KING HENRY V

Lives he, good uncle? thrice within this hour questions, eager, emphasis on thrice (thrice- three times) 

I saw him down; thrice up again and fighting; emphasis on thrice 

From helmet to the spur all blood he was. I, see the image, tempos is fast, volume is personal 

EXETER

In which array, brave soldier, doth he lie,            H is emotional throughout this monologue, one of my closest 

Larding the plain; and by his bloody side,           friends has been killed on the battle field and i can see 

Yoke-fellow to his honour-owing wounds,          the image Exeter is describing to me. The visual of 

The noble Earl of Suffolk also lies.                     Henry is more vulnerable, and saddened. The posture is

Suffolk first died: and York, all haggled over,     more relaxed and not as strong. 

Comes to him, where in gore he lay insteep'd,

And takes him by the beard; kisses the gashes

That bloodily did spawn upon his face;

And cries aloud 'Tarry, dear cousin Suffolk!

My soul shall thine keep company to heaven;

Tarry, sweet soul, for mine, then fly abreast,

As in this glorious and well-foughten field

We kept together in our chivalry!'

Upon these words I came and cheer'd him up:

He smiled me in the face, raught me his hand,

And, with a feeble gripe, says 'Dear my lord,

Commend my service to me sovereign.'

So did he turn and over Suffolk's neck

He threw his wounded arm and kiss'd his lips;

And so espoused to death, with blood he seal'd

A testament of noble-ending love.

The pretty and sweet manner of it forced

Those waters from me which I would have stopp'd;

But I had not so much of man in me,

And all my mother came into mine eyes

And gave me up to tears.

KING HENRY V

I blame you not; an emotional moment between Henry and Exeter, Henry reassures him, tender voice, voice is lower, emphasis on blame 

For, hearing this, I must perforce compound  I, emphasis on perforce (  perforce- necessary) 

With mistful eyes, or they will issue too. I, emphasis on mistful and issue, tempo is slower 

Alarum

But, hark! what new alarum is this same? I, tempo fastens, volume rises, emphasis on hark and alarum 

The French have reinforced their scatter'd men: I, emphasis on reinforced and French, haste in voice

Then every soldier kill his prisoners: I, anger, volume is loud this is directed to all his men 

Give the word through. strong, abrupt, direct 

Exeunt- with haste 

This is an emotional scene between Henry and Exeter, the two have lost a mutual close friend and the way in which Exeter describes the death is very emotional and hard to relive. We see a softer side to Henry, where the strong confident leader is saddened and slightly vulnerable, but this quickly changes to revenge and anger when the sound of the Alarum comes and he sees that the French are getting ready to fight harder. Volume and Tone are very important in this scene because if done right can make certain parts incredibly strong such as the transition from an emotional and lower voice and tempo when comforting Exeter to the rise of tempo and loud volume when he sees the reinforced French. 

Battle scene

The battle scene is physically and creatively engaging with its response to the reality of WW1. The use of levels incorporate the set, the tables and the placing of the props to create a slight abstract but also slightly realistic visual for the audience, painting this picture of men going off to war and fighting. The cast come up and over the table this is responding to the reality of the trenches, hills and various bits of land the men had to walk through and over. The approach to this sequence was a light one, The war would have been messy and violent and instead of taking the obvious and literal route, artistic images were choreographed enabling the audience to use their imagination and the aid of the visual of men passing each other with guns to picture the war. 

Physicality is an incredibly important role throughout this play, and comes into practice particularly in this scene. The physicality has to be brought back to the previous exercise on being a man and incorporating all the attributes and physical manurisms into the battle. In the physicality there needs to be a strength in the arms carrying the gun, tension in the body, slight space between the legs, broad shoulders, heavier footing and strong facial expressions. If this physicality drops the sequence becomes less strong in its effectiveness, so applying these attributes to this scene is fundamental. This is a challenge because you're thinking about many things such as the play itself, your role, your lines, the choreography in the scene and your physicality which is incredibly important but difficult as its so far from your normal physicality (completely different gender). Energy plays a big part in maintaining the effectiveness of the physicality and if we work in a team and keep the energy high we can bounce off each other and all in all create a visually effective scene. 

I really like the sequence and think it works really nicely in the play, offering a silent moment to just watch and interpret. There were parts of the sequence I found difficult as it came down to timing and teamwork which had to be built up with confidence over time, but when I got a hold of it and everyone was on the same page it really worked and became natural. The main factor in this piece is teamwork, in response to the literal these men had to work together and by showing that bond and ultimately trusting and uplifting each other we get the best out of this scene.

Analysis of Henry V performance- Kenneth Branagh

I watched Kenneth Branagh's performance as Henry V in the 1989 adaption of Henry V, paying particular focus to the Crispin day speech which i have been looking at. In his performance of this particular speech I found his choices in voice and physicality inspiring as he embodied a powerful king and in captured the meaning of the speech. 

I found a certain elegance in his posture and his voice felt natural and proud, the delivery was inspiring and was done in a way that was light but powerful, this gave the impression of a friendly relationship between him and the people he was talking to (his knights, battle men). The confidence of his character were shown not only through posture and the way he stood such as broad shoulders and open arms but parts where he would have a casual walk but be delivering his voice on a loud scale pronouncing each word and emphasising words that carried a powerful hit. The pronunciation consisted of the rolling of R’s and the strong carry through from the beginning of the word to the word ending, for example the word Crispian/ Crispin was always a mixture of those two elements making a strong Ki sound carrying straight on the the rolling of the Ris and hitting the En sound at the end. 

Other parts of the speech that i was drawn to was towards the ending with ‘ we few, we happy few, we band of brothers’ this section of the king reassuring his subjects of their loyalty to him and his loyalty to them exudes a brotherly tone, gentle and slightly emotional, this is then followed by a rise in tempo and volume securing his final motivational push ‘And gentlemen in England now abed’ and is then ended with an emphasis on the words ‘Crispins day’, the elongation of the words Crispin and day close the speech and draw the attention of the audience to the name this results in its memorability. 

From this i can take so many elements of Branaghs performance and help it inspire me to deliver a similar feel for my version. Things to help me with my Crispins day performance:

• Differentiation in tone and volume 
• The brotherly and close relationship between the king and the people around him 
• Posture 
• Confidence 
• Natural feel 
• Emotion 
• Pronunciation of words, he is a King so speaks the best English 
• Strength and hitting of words and their endings