O'Malley Theatre

Chicago

USA

Henry V opens with a group of soldiers standing around a field radio on a battlefield during World War II. They tune the radio to a broadcast of Shakespeare’s Henry V, and, as they listen to the production, imagine Henry’s war in the only framework they have knowledge, the grim war machinery of World War II.

World War II is perhaps the last war in which the world somewhat unequivocally embraced a right and a wrong, in the same way that Henry viewed his destiny. And yet, in these worlds of impeccable heroes, there is still extraordinary carnage, atrocities that defy human explanation, and the grim realities of war. In the shadow of another war that laid claim to the same justness of purpose that Henry claimed, we found ourselves in 2009 urgently needing to remind ourselves of the horrors and evils in even the most just wars, rather than in one fabricated on pretext.

Based around radio broadcasts of the period, period music, and the weaponry of World War II, the sound score attempts to recreate an era, while the music bridges the gap between period style and direct connection to human emotions.

Richard K Thomas

zounds[at]purdue.edu