War of the Roses

War of the Roses (3.5/5, on reflection 4.0/5)

Sydney Theatre Company

(Director: Benedict Andrews)

Sydney Theatre

8^th & 10^th January 2009

Bloody, stripped bare production of Shakespeare’s two tetralogies:

Part 1 Act 1: Richard II

Part 1 Act 2: Henry IV parts 1 & 2, Henry V

Part 2 Act 1: Henry VI, parts 1,2 & 3

Part 2 Act 2: Richard III

Cate Blanchett (Richard II) and Robert Menzies (Bolingbroke) are outstanding in their malicious conflict for the Crown of England. Ninety minutes of gold flutter covers the cast in royal inscrutability. The telling of Henry’s IV & V is a little uneven starting with a drawn-out and challenging homosexual scene. The closing scenes are worth the wait - played solo in front of the curtain by a rotation of blooded King Henry V (Ewen Leslie) and chorus this tale of warfare is dramatically told.

Blood, blood and more blood sums up Henry VI’s story. A series of surtitled vignettes dramatically and, very importantly, clearly play out a succession of wars and assassinations. The gruesome quantities of blood are entirely appropriate, though the repeated delivery by one actor spraying a mouthful of blood at another becomes a little tired by the umpteenth death.

Our winter of discontent is swathed in another long, impressionistic flutter drop, this time of snow. The pace pick-ups nicely as we move into the young princes murder and the Battle of Bosworth. Richard III is played with convincing and increasing madness by Pamela Rabe, though the dialogue can be too fast as a substitute for anger.

Although occasionally uneven the 8 hours of this production pass quickly, which is surely indicative of a worthy final effort by the Actors Company.

[Since this is really 8 plays I’ve liberally interpreted the 75-word rule for this review.]