Little C: The Hollow Crown

Readers, Christy and I went to see the National Theater Live broadcast of Coriolanus on Monday and we haven't yet been able to recover. We stumbled out of the theater babbling incoherently about the performances and the costumes and at some point we both said some variation of "It was just so well written!" This is what Shakespeare does to us. We become so humbled in the presence of his plays that we lose all ability to communicate with words, especially when they're well done.

So in honor of our first Shakespeare appreciation week, I want to talk about a series that the BBC put out a few years ago. It's called The Hollow Crown and for nerds like us it's the holy grail. It's high value productions of four separate plays acted out by some of the best actors that England has to offer. Ben Wishaw playing the ethereal (if slightly crazy) Richard II, Jeremy Irons playing Henry IV, and Tom Hiddleston playing Henry V. From the moment this project was announced I stalked it frantically knowing that I needed it like I needed oxygen. I was entirely correct.

Full disclosure guys, Henry V has my favorite speech in all of Shakespeare-dom. It's right at the beginning and the basic premise is that the prince of France sends a messenger to King Henry saying "Get your troops off my land, thanks. Oh and here's some tennis balls to keep you occupied while you're not invading my country." and King Henry takes it about as well as you would expect an old timey ruler to. The problem is that the speech is supposed to be subtle and more often than not when it's performed people go over the top too quickly with it. But not Mr. Hiddleston. He nailed that speech in a way that left me laying quietly on the floor whispering "Sweet baby Whedon, take me now. I'm ready." 

Until this series came along, I'd never watched Richard II all the way through. It's a tough play to read so it doesn't get put up nearly as often as something like Romeo and Juliet. But under the direction of Rupert Goold and with the always magnificent Ben Wishaw in the main role the play is captivating. It's a much different look than the other three plays, much brighter and a little otherworldly. It makes me want to find another version of this play to compare it, even though I'm pretty sure this is how this story was really meant to be told. 

And then there's Henry IV (parts 1 & 2). Oh boy guys, I knew at some point we were going to have to discuss this. I have a giant crush on Jeremy Irons. Not just a "I think he's a great actor" style crush. More of a "I would happily fall asleep to a recording of his reading stories" crush. The man is a force of nature and to watch him do Shakespeare is glorious. It's perfect. And double plus bonus he slaps the shit out of Tom Hiddleston at one point which I enjoy so very much. Watch this and tell me you're not at least a little curious about how the rest of the story plays out. 

That is old school "You're grounded"

So I know Shakespeare isn't everyone's cup of tea, so to speak. But I really believe that these plays have power and should be enjoyed at a high level if you're going to enjoy them at all. So give this series a try, and if you want to borrow them, I have the whole set on DVD. 

Happy watching,

Little C