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The Wars of the Roses: Adapted for the Royal Shakespeare Company from William Shakespeare's Henry VI, Parts 1, 2, 3 and Richard III,
- GenresShakespeare
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1970
7 people want to read
About the author
John Barton
6 booksJohn Bernard Adie Barton, CBE (26 November 1928 – 18 January 2018) was a British theatre director and (with Peter Hall) a co-founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Source: Wikipedia
Source: Wikipedia
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 26, 2024
'A man's a dog, and dogs do crave a master'
In 1964 as the programmes for the RSC's new production of 'The Wars of the Roses' were being designed, Peter Hall was alarmed to see this powerful line - which perfectly captures the ethos of the Henry VI plays - being given prominence as an example of the power of the verse the young Shakespeare was capable of. There was only one problem. The line wasn't by Shakespeare at all but was one of John Barton's many brilliant pastiches, used to link, summarise or at times intensify the atmosphere of this adaptation. It demonstrates not just the vision and audacity of Hall and Barton in attempting an adaptation on this scale but their consummate skills as still quite young directors in bringing it off. One can dispute Hall's claim in his Introduction - '...the plays do not work in unadapted form. I have seen the original version played twice and found it as often a mess of angry and undifferentiated barons, thrashing about in a mass of diffuse narrative.', one can argue that this adaptation was one of the launchpads from which the RSC traced its stellar trajectory from the early 1960s to its apogee in the late 1970s/early 1980s (with Terry Hands magnificent production of the 'straight' Henry 6 trilogy being very much part of that peak), but putting apart the wisdom of hindsight it's impossible to imagine any theatrical universe where this production would not play a vital part on its own terms.
Hold on though, this is Goodreads not a theatrical blog, so what do we actually have here? The book was published by the BBC in 1970, almost five years after it had broadcast its specially filmed version of the trilogy (recorded on the stage of the old Royal Shakespeare Theatre but skilfully restaged for television). This was a major cultural event at that time - one of the most talked about theatrical productions was being made available to a mass audience. The BBC did not do things by halves in those days and so commissioned this volume to accompany it. The gap between broadcast and publication is difficult to fathom unless it was to do with tidying up and checking the scripts themselves. Anyway, it is a great companion. There are revealing essays by both Hall and Barton (I will treasure the picture of Peter Hall travelling to Stratford reading the proofs of Kott's 'Shakespeare Our Contemporary', a major influence on the production) and also on the TV production by Michael Bakewell and some great photographs. But the centrepiece is of course the scripts themselves and the amount of care that has been taken here is extraordinary. It is possible to see at a glance what is original Shakespeare, what is Barton and what has been cut. In addition it is also possible to understand the use that Barton made of some characters (notably Exeter) who unify some of the lines given to Hall's 'undifferentiated barons'. In short, for a theatrical geek, it's heaven.
I've talked about the skill Barton and hall showed in making the adaptation. it's worth pointing out though that there is an inbalance. Richard III, one of Shakespeare's longest plays is cut here, but that only serves to emphasise the length of the middle play, Edward IV, which now carries the burden of the trilogy. It runs some 175 mins in the TV version as opposed to 147 mins for Richard III. (Incidentally, I would happily have seen an uncut Richard III given Ian Holm's mesmerising performance). This is carping though - the adaptation gives three plays of perfectly acceptable length and unprecedented accessibility.
Unfortunately this volume is now hard to come by which is a real shame (the London Library copy comes in one of its 'rare book' boxes complete with scary instructions to the borrower which made me reluctant to bring it home with me even though I could!). The good news is that you can see the productions themselves if you are in the UK on the BBC iPlayer. DVD versions are available for those not in the UK. I can only applaud the vision of the BBC in understanding the importance of these productions for posterity.
In 1964 as the programmes for the RSC's new production of 'The Wars of the Roses' were being designed, Peter Hall was alarmed to see this powerful line - which perfectly captures the ethos of the Henry VI plays - being given prominence as an example of the power of the verse the young Shakespeare was capable of. There was only one problem. The line wasn't by Shakespeare at all but was one of John Barton's many brilliant pastiches, used to link, summarise or at times intensify the atmosphere of this adaptation. It demonstrates not just the vision and audacity of Hall and Barton in attempting an adaptation on this scale but their consummate skills as still quite young directors in bringing it off. One can dispute Hall's claim in his Introduction - '...the plays do not work in unadapted form. I have seen the original version played twice and found it as often a mess of angry and undifferentiated barons, thrashing about in a mass of diffuse narrative.', one can argue that this adaptation was one of the launchpads from which the RSC traced its stellar trajectory from the early 1960s to its apogee in the late 1970s/early 1980s (with Terry Hands magnificent production of the 'straight' Henry 6 trilogy being very much part of that peak), but putting apart the wisdom of hindsight it's impossible to imagine any theatrical universe where this production would not play a vital part on its own terms.
Hold on though, this is Goodreads not a theatrical blog, so what do we actually have here? The book was published by the BBC in 1970, almost five years after it had broadcast its specially filmed version of the trilogy (recorded on the stage of the old Royal Shakespeare Theatre but skilfully restaged for television). This was a major cultural event at that time - one of the most talked about theatrical productions was being made available to a mass audience. The BBC did not do things by halves in those days and so commissioned this volume to accompany it. The gap between broadcast and publication is difficult to fathom unless it was to do with tidying up and checking the scripts themselves. Anyway, it is a great companion. There are revealing essays by both Hall and Barton (I will treasure the picture of Peter Hall travelling to Stratford reading the proofs of Kott's 'Shakespeare Our Contemporary', a major influence on the production) and also on the TV production by Michael Bakewell and some great photographs. But the centrepiece is of course the scripts themselves and the amount of care that has been taken here is extraordinary. It is possible to see at a glance what is original Shakespeare, what is Barton and what has been cut. In addition it is also possible to understand the use that Barton made of some characters (notably Exeter) who unify some of the lines given to Hall's 'undifferentiated barons'. In short, for a theatrical geek, it's heaven.
I've talked about the skill Barton and hall showed in making the adaptation. it's worth pointing out though that there is an inbalance. Richard III, one of Shakespeare's longest plays is cut here, but that only serves to emphasise the length of the middle play, Edward IV, which now carries the burden of the trilogy. It runs some 175 mins in the TV version as opposed to 147 mins for Richard III. (Incidentally, I would happily have seen an uncut Richard III given Ian Holm's mesmerising performance). This is carping though - the adaptation gives three plays of perfectly acceptable length and unprecedented accessibility.
Unfortunately this volume is now hard to come by which is a real shame (the London Library copy comes in one of its 'rare book' boxes complete with scary instructions to the borrower which made me reluctant to bring it home with me even though I could!). The good news is that you can see the productions themselves if you are in the UK on the BBC iPlayer. DVD versions are available for those not in the UK. I can only applaud the vision of the BBC in understanding the importance of these productions for posterity.
April 8, 2024
An astounding achievement, even sixty years later. A great shame that this book is so very rare, as this is without doubt one of the landmark Shakespearean productions of the 20th century complete with valuable and insightful essays.
At the same time, it was a product of the moment. Companies since then have found their own ways to produce these plays, and perhaps there is as little willingness now as there was prior to this production for writers and directors to create their own Frankenspeare, even for sometimes difficult texts such as these early plays.
For those of us who love our theatre history, however? Sheer glory.
At the same time, it was a product of the moment. Companies since then have found their own ways to produce these plays, and perhaps there is as little willingness now as there was prior to this production for writers and directors to create their own Frankenspeare, even for sometimes difficult texts such as these early plays.
For those of us who love our theatre history, however? Sheer glory.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews