Samuel West

“It is a brilliantly emotional piece which focuses our ideas of national identity and makes us think about war, and the pity of war.” Samuel West, the award-winning theatre actor, Oscar-nominated film star, TV actor, narrator, and play director spoke on Henry V, “War sometimes brings out the best in a country, but it always brings out the worst too.”

National identity would be a timely topic in this summer of Beijing Olympics. Henry V was a play written by William Shakpeseare in 1599, depicting the heroic story of the young king of England, Henry the Fifth, leading his troops to win a rough battle against the overwhelming French army. The war speeches in this work are not only highly regarded by scholars, but also widely influenced the pop culture. Examples: William Wallace (Mel Gibson) in Braveheart and Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings.

West cites one recent application of the masterpiece: “’Once more unto the breach’ was wheeled out for the recent Rugby World Cup semi-final against France, the old enemy!” The speech he was referring to appears in the story when Henry V delivered his exhortation to the troops who storm the enemy’s shore. Here is the text:

“Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more,
Or close the wall up with our English dead,
In peace there’s nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility,
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, conjure up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favoured rage.
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let it pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it”

Another equally classic moment from the play is “The Saint Crispin’s day speech” by Henry V to his troops, outnumbered 5 to 1 by the French knights, before the battle that would lead England to victory. To hear the rousing speech, watch the official concert trailer for the upcoming performances.

The play was adopted into an award-winning film by Laurence Olivier, who both directed and starred in the film in 1944. Olivier invited William Walton, the greatly acclaimed British composer, to write the film score. "It is the most wonderful music I’ve ever heard for a film,” Olivier said. "For me, music made the film,” said Olivier, who acknowledged the key role the music played in the film by giving Walton the final screen credit, according to WilliamWalton.net, a comprehensive website on the composer by a musicologist whose specialties include 20th century British music.

The format Hong Kong audiences will hear is a concert version, using excerpts from the play and an orchestral suite arranged from Walton’s film music especially for the concert setting. Besides the orchestra, it also features a chorus and, most importantly, an actor. Sam West is no stranger to Henry V. He made a recording of this concert version with the renowned BBC Symphony Orchestra back in 2001, and starred in the same piece at Last Night of the Proms, the famous last night party of the world-famous music festival BBC Proms.

“…as an actor, it’s an incredibly exciting job: you get to do all the great speeches – the Chorus, Henry himself, the Duke of Burgundy – set to fantastic tunes. But by the time of Burgundy’s great plea for France at the end, you can’t help wishing for peace along with him,” he said. For those less familiar with works from the Elizabethan time, the Chorus in a drama appears as a narrator from time to time, speaking the prologue and epilogue, for instance.

“I’ve played the whole of Henry V (the play) on radio, but never on stage, and although I’ve performed this (concert) version of the work several times, including in Dallas, Texas on the day of George Bush’s last election win. This is the first time for a couple of years – I’ve missed it.”

Seeing his Hong Kong-premiere live on stage promises to be an incredible experience too: West has won the Best Shakespearian Performance at the 2001 Critics’ Circle Award, for his performance of Hamlet with the Royal Shakspeare Company.

“(Shakespeare’s) collected works would always be under my pillow if I was only ever allowed one book to keep, and who never bores me.”

In addition to his acclaimed performances on stage, West is also active on TV, radio, and the big screen. He won the BAFTA award and an Oscar nomination for his role as Leonard Bast in Howards End. He also starred in various films including Notting Hill, Iris, and Jane Eyre. He is also well-known as the narrator on BBC TV documentary: The Nazis: A warning from History and The Planets, both in 1997, as well as the narrator of BBC Radio 4’s production A Passage to India in 2006. He has also been more and more active as a theatre director in recent years.

“I’ve been directing plays for the last five years (since playing Hamlet for the Royal Shakespeare Company, after which no other part seemed quite as exciting). My next big project is a play in London in the autumn, Waste by Harley Granville Barker, which I’m going to direct at the Almeida Theatre. It’s about a political sex scandal. I’m meeting the casting director tomorrow…”

Note:
Samuel West is actually also a lover of classical music (among a wide range of genres from jazz to punk to minimalist techno). His is “a big fan of European chamber music” – Fauré and Janáček and Ravel. Guess which orchestral work is his favourite? A hint: It is a masterpiece of a Russian composer whose works constitute a big part of the programme of a concert in June. For the answer, visit this page again later!