![]() ![]() Though they depict historical events that come after Henry IV Parts I and II and Henry V, the Henry VIs were composed earlier, possibly when Shakespeare was in his mid 20s. Joe Armstrong, right, as Hotspur in Henry IV Part I. The three Henry VI plays were Shakespeare ’s first big hits So here are five useful facts about the plays. Navigating the Henry VI plays, with their multiplying Warwicks and Worcesters, Somersets and Shrewsburys, is like taking a tour through minor English cathedral cities by means of Blackadder and 1066 and All That. They haven’t been seen on the Beeb since the woebegone Complete Works series of the late 1970s and early 80s. But theatres rarely stage the first tetralogy. ![]() Dench! Gambon! Him out of Downton Abbey! Benedict Cumberbatch as history’s most swoonsome Richard III! But does anyone actually know the Henry VI plays? Most of us are on nodding terms with Falstaff and Hal, and even David Cameron is able to spout the French-bashing bits from Henry V. N ews that the BBC has followed 2012’s The Hollow Crown by commissioning a second series, based on the Henry VI plays and to be screened as part of the current Shakespeare season, has sent Bardolaters into a frenzy.
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