Henry IV (Part 1) – Lecture and Play

After a sell-out season, Sport for Jove returns with – Shakespeare’s Henry IV (Part 1) – played in an extraordinary medieval globe-like setting, it is an unmissable experience.

Redemption? Disgrace? Honour? Legitimacy? Love? Glory? What sort of world do the young inherit from the old, and what should we fight for? What makes a truly great leader? Henry IV (Part 1) is a play made for our time.

Shakespeare looks back at history to imagine his nation’s future and turns an immense and kaleidoscopic national lens on the most simple and human of relationships – the family.

The play is moving, funny and thrillingly chaotic, swaying on a tightrope of irrational thought and behaviour trying to maintain its sanity and balance. It tumbles from conniving politics to saturnalian madness as people at every level of English society grasp for power, notoriety, fame and loyalty from those around them.

It is Shakespeare having an absolute ball with what theatre can be and is one of the world’s greatest studies in courage, crime, the nature of rebellion and the challenge of living up to our responsibilities.

It is a must-have experience for young people studying the play.

The production includes a detailed 20-minute lecture on the play by director Damien Ryan and Q&A with the students to deepen their relationship with the work.

"The director's understanding of Shakespeare's plays and their timeless and universal qualities is evident in the production's creative choices. The team really understand how to bring the plays to life for younger and contemporary audiences." – Lee Wall, English Teacher at Moruya High School

Image credit: Dowling and Dowling Designs