Shakespeare in Performance: Film
Henry VI, Part 1 (1981, Jane Howell)
| Title | Henry VI, Part 1 |
|---|---|
| Year | 1981 |
| Release Locations | GB |
| Director | Jane Howell |
| Medium | Color video |
| Length | 3 hrs, 5 mins |
| Audience | general public |
| Play Connections | Henry VI, Part 1 (teleplay) |
| Series | The Shakespeare Plays |
Description
Not content with televising the entire Major Tetralogy (R2 through the two parts of H4 and then H5), the BBC producers then took on the immensely complicated minor tetralogy, which is comprised of the three parts of H6 plus King Richard III (see 187, 193 and 513). The inability to fit the entire cast credits into the number of bytes allocated by the MELBASE software program, which has easily handled nearly every other play in the canon, suggests the enormous size and scope of this production. Director Jane Howell, after much thought, solved the problem of sets for this epical tale, in many respects more narrative than dramatic, by borrowing from a schoolyard 'adventure playground' set as a basis for the mise en scène. The results are quite astonishing. Somehow the well-disciplined soldiers, the rhythmic martial flourishes, and this raggle-taggle collection of entrances and exits endow the performance with more heart-stopping realism than realism itself (KSR)
Description from Shakespeare on Screen : an International Filmography and Videography by Kenneth S. Rothwell and Annabelle Henkin Melzer. ©1990 Kenneth S. Rothwell. Cited by permission. — Added 2008-11-14
Cast Overview
Production Team and Crew Overview
Production information courtesy of: Kenneth Rothwell