The Fifth Element
O
pening its doors in November, Henry V completes the season of five plays at the Noël Coward Teatre in London’s West End.
As part of the Michael Grandage Company’s commitment to access and nurture the next generation of theatre-goers, Henry V follows performances of Privates on Parade, Peter and Alice, The Cripple of Inishmaan and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. “It has been the most wonderful and fulfilling journey imaginable,” said director Michael Grandage. “We set out to try and shift the axis of West End audiences through pricing (offering 100,000 tickets at £10) and I’m delighted to say that 25 percent of all seats sold were to first time bookers. “To see so many young people in the audience every night has been genuinely thrilling,” he added. “We have also offered training posts to associate directors and designers, created a youth theatre that meets every week and delivered high quality
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productions to well over 400,000 people of all ages and backgrounds. In doing so, I believe we have contributed to re-energise the non-subsidised sector in a major way - and that is something I am certainly very proud of.”
Helping to draw in the crowds has been a stellar line up, including the likes of Judi Dench, Sheridan Smith, David Walliams and Daniel Radcliffe. Jude Law will also be collaborating with Mr Grandage for this final production, after first teaming up with him for Hamlet in 2009 and later at the Donmar Warehouse in Anna Christie. “Tese two productions cemented our wish to work together again and we knew we wanted to continue to explore the Shakespearean repertoire,” said Mr Grandage. “We have been speaking about Henry V for over two years and those discussions constantly reminded me why he is such a wonderful actor to work with - there is a real hunger to be on stage which is
Image by Bronwen Sharp
As Jude Law readies himself to take the throne as Henry V, Hayley Leaver goes behind the scenes of the West End’s newest stage production
why he constantly returns there away from his film career. “For both of us it will be a very different
journey. For Jude, the role has some of the introspection of Hamlet, but the part also requires a greater physicality and a whole
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