Professor David Peimer
Shakespeare’s Henry V: Great Leadership or Wishful Thinking?
Summary
Henry V was a fascinating young king who defeated the much larger French army at the famous battle of Agincourt in 1415. We will look at clips from film adaptations by Olivier and Branagh and ask “How does Shakespeare see leadership?”
Professor David Peimer
David Peimer is a professor of theatre and performance studies in the UK. He has taught at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, and New York University (Global Division), and was a Fulbright Scholar at Columbia University. Born in South Africa, David has won numerous awards for playwriting and directing. He has written eleven plays and directed forty in places like South Africa, New York, Brussels, London, Berlin, Zulu Kingdom, Athens, and more. His writing has been published widely and he is the editor of Armed Response: Plays from South Africa (2009) and the interactive digital book Theatre in the Camps (2012). He is on the board of the Pinter Centre in London.
No, I’m not saying that he was the best or the smartest of the kings. It’s a really good question, thank you. Because I’m saying that Shakespeare gives him qualities of this, what I’m calling the ability to be flexible, adapt, not stuck to one path, and that’s it. Because that’s going to lead to the downfall. You know, and we can see dictators and other leaders that will stick to one thing and will not change the plan. It’s a psychologically dictatorial mindset. And I think it’s his ability to adapt, you know, as the human species, it’s maybe even Darwin. But anyway, I think that Shakespeare is pointing out with Henry, this is what is needed of a leader and a smart leader. I don’t necessarily think it’s the best because I think each play, from Lear to all the others, is so different in content and context. The stories are so different. It’s not about soldiers facing overwhelming odds against another group. Ultimately, the battle is the centre of this entire play. It’s absolutely the battle of Agincourt, is the play, before and after, and the battle. So I think it’s more about a warrior king. And it’s these qualities of adaptability. In King Lear, it’s a remarkable ability to go from arrogance and hubris and to come all the way down to lose everything. And you’re just a naked wretch, screaming on a rain driven field. And just realise you’re nothing but a poor pitchfork of a man. And love and compassion with his daughter.
Branagh, definitely, ‘cause he’s also made this recent movie, set in Northern Ireland, as we know. Branagh’s definitely got an outsider awareness, that’s for sure. Olivier, doing it in the forties during the war, not only is he English, but it’s absolutely for D-Day, basically. It’s for the big day and the English. And then of course Burton, who’s also partly an outsider and an insider. I chose it, not only because of the three nations, as you’re saying here, but also because I think they are three brilliant actors. Totally different. I watch Richard Burton again and again in some of his later movies, yeah, he’s so young, but it’s not only the voice, it’s the quality of the character behind that voice. You know, I love his acting.
Maria, a great question. That’s what we try to show in the end, the last clip from the Branagh movie. Where, you have to be told by the French, the opposition has to come on a horse and tell you that you’ve won. Because you’re in mud, and rain, and mist, and battled all over. And chaos has happened as usually often in war. Obviously no modern communications. So somebody’s got to come and tell you. And he’s the leader in the thick of the battle. He’s not even on his horse watching. He’s certainly not in Paris, like the French king, but he’s in the battle and that makes for a totally different kind of young leader. And I think, how did they know who won? Somebody had to tell them, whether on their own side, or the opposition. I guess maybe there was a bugle played sometimes.