One-man Henry V with a comic twist

A London theatre is to be transformed into a slice of rural Devon for an actor’s one-man interpretation of Shakespeare’s Henry V.

Mark Carey, who has starred in Luther and The Bill, has written, produced and is starring in Into The Breach — which takes Shakespeare’s classic tale of leadership during war and gives it an Ealing comedy-style twist.

The 53-year-old, who lived in Walthamstow for two decades before moving to the Cotswolds, will play all 17 characters in the show at the Rosemary Branch theatre in Islington on June 13.

The play centres on a handyman who fought in the First World War. He moves to a sleepy Devon hamlet where he joins an amateur dramatic society believing they are putting on a pantomime — but they are actually putting on Henry V. He is cast as the Chorus but is promoted to Henry V, and is forced to face the horrors he experienced in the trenches.

Mr Carey said: “It’s exciting to do a play in London and it means more when you have written and produced it.”

The play is part of a residency at the theatre by the Exeter-based Cygnet Theatre company.