Henry in the Park

On St. Crispin's Day (October 25), 1415, English forces routed the French in the Battle of Agincourt.  Shakespeare, in his play Henry V, puts the French losses at 10,000 men; the English at 25.  A near miracle, an awestruck King Henry declaims:

Was ever known so great and little loss
On one part and on the other? Take it, God,
For it is none but thine!

More cautious estimates, both English and French, are less incredible, but by all accounts it was a dazzling victory for "King Harry's" forces.

Agincourt, this afternoon, was not a bloodsoaked field near Calais, but a lush amphitheater lawn in Seattle's Volunteer Park, surrounded by dense trees, with a blue sky overhead.  It was a beautiful day to sit on the lawn (or in chairs, for those clever enough to have brought them), surrounded by hordes of kids and the usual Seattle complement of urban dogs.

Seattle Shakespeare Company presented Henry V -- a well-received, free performance -- one of a series of summer performances in public parks throughout King County.  The Company will present The Tempest in Volunteer Park tomorrow night.

My youthful experiences with free public performances in public parks led me to expect (and fear) a campy, revised version of the Shakespearean text, lots of slapstick physical comedy, and a not-at-all subtle message opposing war in Afghanistan or Syria, or wherever.  Instead, although apparently condensed in places, the text was straight from Shakespeare.  The English and French forces did seem to be dressed like combatants in World War II, carrying automatic weapons not yet in general use in 1415.  Although the English competency with the longbow is generally accepted as a major factor in the scale of their triumph, not a longbow (or a short bow, for that matter) was to be seen in Volunteer Park.

There were a number of satisfying explosions, however.  (Cannon were in use by the fifteenth century, after all.)  Also, a somewhat anachronistic execution of a looter by a pistol shot to the head.  Hey, gotta keep the young'uns interested, too.

But the acting was fine, several of the actors, including the one playing King Harry, being members of Actors' Equity.  The sound system was quite good, overcoming the usual problem of muddled lines arising in outdoor productions.  And Shakespeare was glorious Shakespeare.

Which of us doesn't hope to live forever in the minds of our progeny?  The words of King Henry's "St. Crispin Day" speech  resonate today as emotionally as they did in Shakespeare's time:

Old men forget: yet all shall be forgot
But he'll remember with advantages
What feats he did that day: then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester,
Be in their flowing cups freshly remember'd.
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;...

Even those of us with anti-military biases couldn't help glowing as we left the amphitheater, walking in the soft afternoon air, with those stirring words ringing in our minds.