Enter The company chose to stagger the entrances to make sense of the prince's first line "Come away" (TLN 3). Why would he say "Come away" if his friends are already on stage? We began the show with the ominous beating of a drum to build suspense and then the prince dashed on as if arriving directly from the scene of the crime. After finding a safe spot and looking around to check all was clear, he called on his companions. Prince Henry As Henry is not yet king and undergoes considerable character transformation when he does become king, the quarto's Henry 5 has been emended to Prince Henry in speech prefixes until he is crowned. five hundred pound Early modern collective nouns did not always make a difference between singular and plural, as in "pound" and "pounds". But tell me Paul Hopkins (Prince Henry) took on an attitude of mock contrition when asking this question. He made it clear that if anything he was proud of his villainy and not questioning his actions. rob The robbing of the receivers (tax and rent collectors) was a well-known element of numerous 16th-century English accounts of Prince Henry's youth. Stow relates that Prince Henry "wold waite in disguised araye for his owne receyuers, and distresse them of theyre money: and sometimes at suche enterprices both he and his company wer surely beaten: and when his receiuers made to him their complaints, how they were robbed in their coming vnto him, he wold giue them discharge of so much mony as they had lost, and besides that, they should not depart from him without great rewards for their trouble and vexation, especially they should be rewarded that best hadde resisted hym and his company, and of whom he had receyued the greatest and most strokes" (Chronicles 583). Shakespeare dramatizes the robbing of the receivers and other travellers in 1H4 2.2, turning it into an opportunity for Prince Harry to demonstrate Falstaff's cowardice. trick witty bit of tomfoolery, not a criminal act Sir John Oldcastle Historically, although he was Prince Henry's companion before Henry became king, Sir John Oldcastle (1378-1417) was executed in 1417 after having been found guilty of heresy in 1413 and having been implicated in various revolts against Henry between 1413 and 1417 (Dockray 53, 105-10). Sir John became Lord Cobham in 1408 when he married Joan Cobham, heiress of the third Lord Cobham. Oldcastle's heretical beliefs derived from those of the proto-Protestant fourteenth-century Oxford scholar John Wycliffe, and sixteenth-century Protestant reformers like John Foxe considered Oldcastle to be a martyr (Corbin and Sedge 2). FV, however, indicates the existence of another view of Oldcastle "by its drawing together of the traditions of riot and misrule associated with Oldcastle and Prince Henry" , as does Shakespeare in the construction of his character Falstaff, who was, evidence suggests, initially called Oldcastle in 1H4 . Scholars have speculated that Shakespeare was forced to change the name because of complaints from the Cobham family (Corbin and Sedge 1-10). The text makes no references to Jockey's size or age. We therefore resisted the temptation to make him appear a proto-Falstaff, costuming him as a sharply dressed young companion to the prince in a black satin suit and rakish cream hat. Zounds "God's wounds!" (oath). This exclamation also alerts the audience to Jockey's entrance as a comic double-take. Enter Jockey The logic of the text suggested to the company that Jockey should enter after "away" (TLN 18), since the prince's next sentence suggests he can now see Jockey. Play texts from the period, however, often mark an entrance after a character's arrival has already been announced. The original actors would have been comfortable with the convention that they could 'see' characters approaching from back stage, but this seems unnatural to modern actors and we often create business to make the entrance obey the logic of naturalism. In this instance, David Kynaston (Jockey) took the word "away" as his cue to make noise off-stage. The Prince, Ned and Tom drew their swords, as if fearing they had been followed, and then reacted with relief when they saw it was their friend at TLN 18. The suggestion that the moment could be an opportunity for a comic double-take is a viable alternative. See note at TLN 18. See also "Here come the receivers" (TLN 46). passeth is current; is noteworthy. Deptford town four miles east of London (Sugden 150). hue and cry "Outcry calling for the pursuit of a felon" (OED). Any man hearing the hue and cry was legally obliged to join the pursuit, which a contemporary source describes thus: "The maner of their hue and cry . . . is that if a robberie be done, a horne is blowne, and an out crie made: after which, if the partie flie away, and not yeeld himselfe to the Kings Bayliffe , he may be lawfully slaine, and hanged vp vpon the next gallows" (John Cowell, The Interpreter: or Book Containing the Signification of Words [1607] LEME). carrier someone who carries things, bearer (of goods). Carriers conveyed letters and goods and escorted travellers between London and provincial towns. They constituted an informal but important communications and transportation network that connected the capital and the provinces in the early modern period. Carriers were legally liable for the goods entrusted to them (Stewart, 437, 457), so by robbing the "poor carrier" (Derrick), Prince Henry's man (Cutbert Cutter) has inflicted a serious financial as well as physical blow upon the carrier. booties targets for plunder, to be shared by the thieves skills makes a difference, matters. Ay, I may Paul Hopkins (Prince Henry) played these three sentences as distinct actable moments, or "beats," as we call them. Initially he was disgusted that his servant had robbed a "poor carrier" (TLN 31); then he boastfully announced that he would save him from the law anyway. To help motivate the final sentence, Hopkins asked the other actors to react to this announcement with surprise, so he could then respond defiantly with: "Ay, I may." belammed beat, thrashed. Paul Hopkins (Prince Henry) rubbed his shoulder at this point to indicate just where the pain was located. This action helped set up the gag later in the scene (See TLN 72-3). bravely splendidly, finely, excellently. They place Because in rehearsal the company found that placing the bags on the stage and looking at them was anticlimactic, they developed a piece of business to punctuate the moment. As the prince said his next line, "Now, by heaven, here's a brave show!" (TLN 43), they all drew their swords and at the end of the line thrust them over the bags with a cry of "Ha!" It worked well to enhance the sense of manly camaraderie that the actors generated in this scene. I will . . . tonight Contrast this to Prince Hal's resolution in 1H4 that "The money shall be paid back again, with advantage" (Internet Shakespeare EditionsTLN 1515-1516). two Receivers These characters could be figures that arouse sympathy. They are charged with collecting and protecting the king's money, have been robbed, and now fear hanging. I directed the SQM company to play them as figures of fun. Playing these two characters as comical characters diluted the impact of the prince's threats to them. They were still sympathetic figures and their fear had the potential to raise questions about the Prince's behavior, but the pity arousing from their reactions was tempered by laughter. The effect was to create a scene of boyish ribaldry that invited the audience to share in the fun of the wayward prince's antics even while they might be sympathizing with his victims. The scene still opens up issues about the rule of law and the abuse of power but as is typical of Queen's Men dramaturgy it does so playfully. villains low-born vulgar rustics (an insult based on social class); not a charge of evil-doing. Speak . . . him In this series of lines the Receivers each try to avoid speaking to the prince. The play-editor has added editorial asides to indicate where the lines should be addressed. In rehearsal, the actors also developed physical business as each Receiver tried to push the other to the front to deal with the apparently angry prince. Forsooth Truly. cut . . . heads Paul Hopkins (Prince Henry) played up the mock anger to enhance the fun for the audience, who know he is the one who stole the money. We emphasized the importance of direct address in the SQM productions encouraging actors to deliver their lines to the audience whenever possible. Hopkins used this technique to maximum advantage in this role creating an open and playful relationship with the audience and exploiting opportunities to enjoy a dramatic irony. Robbed? Paul Hopkins (Prince Henry) yelled this word at the Receivers with an exaggerated sense of outrage which made the Receivers jump and the audience laugh because they knew him to be the robber. The Receivers huddled together, comically quaking in their boots. Marry Emphatic expression of surprise or indignation. Variant of Mary, mother of Christ (OED). hobby small light-footed horse bred in Ireland. nag small riding-horse, bred for a comfortable walking pace, usually for ladies. Gog's God's. Blood "God's blood!" (oath). belammed him As the Receivers repeated his exact words from earlier in the scene, the prince rubbed his shoulder again slightly to enhance the effect of the dramatic irony. See note at TLN 19. away your money Paul Hopkins (Prince Henry) drew his sword at this point and leveled it at the Receivers who promptly dropped to their knees. In his next line he instructs them to "stand up" (TLN 79), and so it made sense that they should kneel. As is typical of early modern work, there is no stage direction in the original text. The exact moment where they should kneel is a matter of interpretation. If they kneel following their next line (TLN 77), where they beg for mercy, as suggested in this edition, the movement would also make sense. Was not . . . done? An example of the rhetorical questions mentioned in the performance headnote. Not all audience members either early modern or contemporary would necessarily empathize with this young and nationalistic braggart, but Hopkins's charisma gave us a sense of how an actor might exploit the text in order to maximize his character's appeal to the audience. His response to textual clues such as these contributed significantly to the development of the SQM company style. Now, whither Paul Hopkins (Prince Henry) added a pause before saying this line. The text does not so indicate, but then early modern texts never indicate pauses. Actors today have learned to make sense of the journey from the end of one line to the beginning of the next. They need a sense of logic that justifies their character's actions and lines. In this instance, Hopkins was intrigued by the fact that no sooner had one escapade ended than the prince was looking for the next. He felt there was something restless about this character and the pause he added served to bring focus to that quality. Curiously, he had discovered the same quality in the King of Gallia, the character he played in King Leir. Was this simply his personal inclination as an actor? Or does it reveal that the Queen's Men's casting allowed their actors to play to their strengths, performing similar characters in their different plays? Feversham "A town in Kent on a creek of the E[ast] Swale, 47 m. E[ast] of London and 8 m. W[est] of Canterbury" (Sugden 190). old tavern public house, or pub, serving food and alcohol and often with some rooms for travellers. Bullough identifies the tavern as the Boar's Head, noting that in 2H4 Bardolph calls it "the old place . . . in Eastcheap" (Internet Shakespeare EditionsTLN 926). Stow, however, writes that "The Garland in Little East Cheape, sometime a brewhouse, with a garden on the back side, adjoining to the garden of Sir John Philpot, was the chief house in this East Cheape" (Survey 189). Eastcheap London market (or 'cheap') street, containing mainly butchers' stalls. Eastcheap ran "E[ast] from the junction of Cannon St[reet] and Gracechurch St[reet] to G[reat] Tower St[reet]. The famous Boar's Head Tavern was at the W[est] end" (Sugden 165). Stow writes, "This Eastcheape is now a flesh market of butchers there dwelling on both sides of the street" (Survey 194). pretty wench In 1H4 Falstaff calls the tavern's hostess "a most sweet wench" (Internet Shakespeare EditionsTLN 153-154). in their tongues Paul Hopkins (Prince Henry) also played the young Prince Edward in Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay. In that play the prince dresses up as a court jester and plays the fool. Performing the plays in repertoire, the SQM actors' interpretations of one role often began to color their performances in other roles. (See also note at TLN 87) Paul Hopkins adopted the same silly voice for this sexual innuendo that he used to play the fool in Friar Bacon. In performance I always felt that the connection between the wayward prince and folly would have been seen as appropriate by an early modern audience for whom folly was a frequently used synonym for sin (See intro). Sebastian Brant's Ship of Fools, for example, was full of sinners not court entertainers, simpletons, or madmen. We . . . fellows Paul Hopkins (Prince Henry) gathered his friends together and stretched his arms across their shoulders, which communicated the break in social hierarchy implied by the line. This masculine and egalitarian camaraderie was infectious and came increasingly to define the SQM company performance style. The atmosphere generated by Hopkins and the cast created the feeling that the Prince was a man of the people, even if the effect was illusory since he shows scant concern for the poor receivers. An If. we would . . . kings Bullough points to Falstaff's dreams of what he and his companions will do "when thou [Prince Hal] art a king" in 1H4 (Internet Shakespeare EditionsTLN 130).
Famous Victories of Henry V (Modern)
Scene 1
1[Scene 1] [Video Sc.1]
Enter the young Prince [Henry], Ned, and Tom.
Prince Henry
Come away, Ned and Tom!
Ned and Tom
Here, my lord.
5Prince Henry
Come away, my lads. Tell me, sirs, how much gold have you got?
Ned
Faith, my lord, I have got five hundred pound.
Prince Henry
But tell me, Tom, how much hast thou got?
Tom
Faith, my lord, some four hundred pound.
10Prince Henry
Four hundred pounds? Bravely spoken, lads! But tell me, sirs, think you not that it was a villainous part of me to rob my father's receivers?
Ned
Why no, my lord. It was but a trick of youth.
Prince Henry
Faith, Ned, thou sayest true. 15But tell me, sirs, whereabouts are we?
Tom
My lord, we are now about a mile off London.
Prince Henry
But, sirs, I marvel that Sir John Oldcastle comes not away. Zounds, see where he comes!
Enter Jockey [Sir John Oldcastle].
20How now, Jockey, what news with thee?
Jockey
Faith, my lord, such news as passeth, for the town of Deptford is risen with hue and cry after your man which parted from us the last night 25and has set upon and hath robbed a poor carrier.
Prince Henry
Zounds, the villain that was wont to spy out our booties?
Jockey
Ay, my lord, even the very same.
Prince Henry
Now, base-minded rascal, to rob a poor carrier! 30Well, it skills not. I'll save the base villain's life. Ay, I may. But tell me, Jockey, whereabouts be the receivers?
Jockey
Faith, my lord, they are hard by, but the best is, we are a-horseback and they be afoot, so we may escape them.
35Prince Henry
Well, if the villains come, let me alone with them. But tell me, Jockey, how much got'st thou from the knaves? For I am sure I got something, for one of the villains so belammed me about the shoulders as I shall feel it this month.
40Jockey
Faith, my lord, I have got a hundred pound.
Prince Henry
A hundred pound! Now, bravely spoken, Jockey. But come, sirs, lay all your money before me. [They place their booty at his feet.] Now, by heaven, here is a brave show! But, as I am true gentleman, I will have the half 45of this spent tonight. But, sirs, take up your bags. Here come the receivers. Let me alone.
[They hide the booty.]
Enter two Receivers.
1 Receiver
Alas, good fellow, what shall we do? I dare never go home to the court, for I shall be hanged. 50But look, here is the young prince. What shall we do?
Prince Henry
How now, you villains, what are you?
1 Receiver
[Aside to 2 Receiver] Speak you to him.
2 Receiver
[Replying aside] No, I pray, speak you to him.
Prince Henry
Why, how now you rascals, why speak you not?
551 Receiver
Forsooth we be -- [Aside to 2 Receiver] pray speak you to him.
Prince Henry
Zounds, villains, speak, or I'll cut off your heads.
2 Receiver
[To Prince Henry] Forsooth, he can tell the tale better than I.
1 Receiver
Forsooth, we be your father's receivers.
Prince Henry
Are you my father's receivers? 60Then I hope ye have brought me some money.
1 Receiver
Money? Alas, sir, we be robbed.
Prince Henry
Robbed? How many were there of them?
1 Receiver
Marry, sir, there were four of them, and one of them had Sir John Oldcastle's bay hobby 65and your black nag.
Prince Henry
Gog's wounds! [To Jockey] How like you this, Jockey? [To the Receivers] Blood, you villains! My father robbed of his money abroad, and we robbed in our stables. But tell me, how many were of them?
701 Receiver
If it please you, there were four of them, and there was one about the bigness of you, but I am sure I so belammed him about the shoulders that he will feel it this month.
Prince Henry
Gog's wounds, you lammed them fairly -- 75so that they have carried away your money! [To Ned, Tom, and Jockey] But come, sirs, what shall we do with the villains?
1 Receiver and 2 Receiver
I beseech your grace, be good to us.
[The Receivers kneel.]
Ned
I pray you, my lord, forgive them this once.
[Prince Henry]
Well, stand up and get you gone. 80And look that you speak not a word of it, for if there be, zounds, I'll hang you and all your kin.
Exeunt Receivers.
Prince Henry
Now, sirs, how like you this? Was not this bravely done? 85For now the villains dare not speak a word of it, I have so feared them with words. Now, whither shall we go?
Ned, Tom, and Jockey
Why, my lord, you know our old hostess at Feversham?
90Prince Henry
Our hostess at Feversham? Blood, what shall we do there? We have a thousand pound about us, and we shall go to a petty alehouse? No, no. You know the old tavern in Eastcheap? There is good wine. Besides, there is a pretty wench 95that can talk well, for I delight as much in their tongues as any part about them.
Ned, Tom, and Jockey
We are ready to wait upon your grace.
Prince Henry
Gog's wounds! Wait? We will go all together. We are all fellows, I tell you, sirs. An the king 100my father were dead, we would be all kings. Therefore, come away.
Ned
Gog's wounds, bravely spoken, Harry!
Exeunt Prince Henry, Ned, Tom, and Jockey.

Famous Victories of Henry V (Modern)