Harry's here to help

Just as Britain?s most famous Shakespearean Company open their Stratford season, another, far smaller company have taken to hand another of the Bard?s most dramatic plays. With just eleven players, British Touring Shakespeare, under the auspices of young director Miles Gregory, are performing Henry V ? so often the chest-beating centrepiece of English nationalism.

Choosing to eschew a formal period, the show has a more freeform approach, which reflects well on the hard-working band of actors. The venue, Euston?s Shaw Theatre, is amiable enough, but suffers from being tacked onto the side of a hotel and has little charm to draw in audiences on its own merit.

Opening with a bluff, the cast ? clad in boiler suits ? quickly got down to their tasks of bringing the play to life. The show, which opened on St George?s Day, skipped over most of the play?s exploration of nationalism and sovereignty in favour of up-front, bare bones delivery.

Henry himself was portrayed to mixed effect by Tom Mallaburn. He lacked definition, being genuinely charming at points but lacking gravitas during the crucial moments of the play. The torchlight rendition of Henry?s most famous soliloquy was spoiled by soft stage lights, but there was a broody darkness to his rabble rousing St Crispian?s Day speech which threw open new ideas.

The show ? and Mallaburn?s performance - improved markedly after the interval, despite the rather drawn out sequence of cigarette rolling which preceded Henry?s incognito arrival amongst his troops.

With such a small cast, several devious tricks were needed to fill in the gaps ? but these inventive touches refreshed a play which so often relies on bombast and dramatic presentation to impress. The staging was perhaps a little too spare, though, and the sound was used to little effect ? leaving the cast to carry the weight of the armies of England and France on their shoulders. Fittingly, the most impressive performances were from those who filled in a multitude of roles, with Chorus and ringmaster Mike Rogers leading the line deftly. His act relied a little too heavily on jest, but it showed the company valued traditional Shakespearean theatre over glossy production and melodrama.

Tobias Beer, whose deft comic touches livened up both the Archbishop of Canterbury and Welshman Fluellen, proved his versatility ? as did Clive Fryde, who contrasted a Dad?s Army portrayal of Bardolph with a frail but regal performance as the King of France.

A few suspect costume decisions left spectators bemused, but these were small errors of judgement in the scheme of things. A few lines slipped on delivery, and a few comic liberties were taken with the text, but for the most part this was good, small-theatre Shakespeare delivered with honesty.

Henry V: British Touring Shakespeare