An Age of Kings

An Age of Kings

North American DVD cover
Genre Drama, Tragedy, History
Created by Peter Dews
Developed by Eric Crozier
Written by William Shakespeare
Directed by Michael Hayes
Theme music composer Arthur Bliss
Composer(s) Chrisopher Whelen
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 15
Production
Producer(s) Peter Dews
Camera setup Multi-camera
Production company(s) BBC Television
Distributor
Release
Original network BBC Television Service
Picture format Black and white, 4:3
Audio format Monaural
Original release 28 April (1960-04-28) – 17 November 1960 (1960-11-17)

An Age of Kings is a fifteen-part serial adaptation of the eight sequential history plays of William Shakespeare (Richard II, 1 Henry IV, 2 Henry IV, Henry V, 1 Henry VI, 2 Henry VI, 3 Henry VI and Richard III), produced by the BBC in 1960. At the time, the show was the most ambitious Shakespearean television adaptation ever made, and was a critical and commercial success in both the UK and North America.

Introduction

The concept for the series originated in 1959 with Peter Dews, a veteran BBC producer and director, who was inspired by a 1951 Anthony Quayle directed production of the Henriad at the Theatre Royal and a 1953 Douglas Seale directed repertory cast production of the three parts of Henry VI at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre and subsequently, The Old Vic.[1] At the time, An Age of Kings was the most conceptually ambitious Shakespeare project ever undertaken, containing over 600 speaking roles, and requiring thirty weeks of rehearsal prior to performance. Each episode cost roughly £4,000. Adapter Eric Crozier cut the text of the eight plays into sixty-, seventy-, seventy-five- and eighty-minute episodes, which each episode roughly corresponding to half of each play. The only exception to this was 1 Henry VI, which was reduced to a single hour-long episode.[2]

Dews sourced most of his cast from The Old Vic, using many of the same actors who had appeared in Seale's production, although in different roles (Paul Daneman for example, played Henry VI for Seale, but played Richard III in Age of Kings). Dews also used actors with whom he had worked whilst directing undergraduate plays at Oxford University. He gave the job of directing to his assistant, Michael Hayes.[2] The initial plan was for the series to be the inaugural production in the BBC's newly built BBC Television Centre in London, but when the studios opened, the series wasn't ready, and was instead broadcast from the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith.[2] Peter Dews described the set as "a large permanent structure; platforms, steps, corridors, pillars, and gardens, which will house nearly all the plays' action and which will, despite its outward realism, be not very far from Shakespeare's "unworthy scaffold"."[3] The entire production was shot with four cameras running at any given time. For battle scenes, a cyclorama was used as a backdrop, obscured with smoke. Almost the entire series was shot in medium and close ups. All ten episodes were broadcast live,[4] and a 16mm "telerecording" was made by literally filming a television screen.[5]

Many of the episodes ended with wordless pseudo-teasers for the following episode. For example, "The Deposing of the King" ends with a shot of Northumberland's dagger stabbed into Henry IV's paperwork, visually alluding to his later rebellion. "Signs of War" ends with a shot of a signpost reading "Agincourt", alluding to the upcoming battle in the following episode. "The Sun in Splendour" ends with George, Duke of Clarence almost falling into a vat of wine, only to be saved by his brother, Richard, who looks deviously at the camera and smiles, alluding to his subsequent murder. "The Dangerous Brother" ends with Richard watching the sleeping Princes in the Tower before smiling to himself and then blowing out a candle, again alluding to his planned murder. Head of BBC drama Michael Barry referred to these "teasers" by explaining that "a strengthened purpose is added to the narrative when it is wholly seen, and we are able to look forward to 'what happens next'."[6]

The series was a huge success, with an average viewing audience of three million in the UK. The Times hailed the production as "monumental; a landmark in the BBC's Shakespearian tradition."[7] The series went on to win the British Guild of Directors' award for "Excellence in Directing" and the Peabody Award in the US.[8]

The episodes

"Richard II: The Hollow Crown"

Sean Connery in Alfred Hitchcock's Marnie (1964). Connery was a relatively unknown actor when he was cast as Henry 'Hotspur' Percy in An Age of Kings.

"Richard II: The Deposing of a King"

Julian Glover in 2011. Like many actors, Glover played multiple characters across the entire series, appearing in all but one episode.

"Henry IV: Rebellion from the North"

"Henry IV: The Road to Shrewsbury"

"Henry IV: The New Conspiracy"

Hermione Baddeley appeared in a single episode only, portraying Doll Tearsheet.

"Henry IV: Uneasy Lies the Head"

"Henry V: Signs of War"

Judi Dench was already a well-known Shakespearean performer when she was cast as Katherine of Valois.

"Henry V: The Band of Brothers"

"Henry VI: The Red Rose and the White"

"Henry VI: The Fall of a Protector"

Nan Marriott-Watson in 1922. She appeared in a single episode, portraying "Mother Jordan".

"Henry VI: The Rabble from Kent"

Patrick Garland in 1969. Having played the important role of Henry V's brother John, Duke of Bedford in the early episodes, Garland played the equally important role of Richard III's brother George, Duke of Clarence in later episodes.

"Henry VI: The Morning's War"

"Henry VI: The Sun in Splendour"

"Richard III: The Dangerous Brother"

"Richard III: The Boar Hunt"

Richard III was portrayed in An Age of Kings by Paul Daneman. In a 1953 production of the tetralogy at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre directed by Douglas Seale, Daneman had played one of Richard's royal predecessors, Henry V.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Lennox, Patricia (2001). "Henry VI: A Television History in Four Parts". In Pendleton, Thomas A. Henry VI: Critical Essays. London: Routledge. p. 237. ISBN 9780815338925.
  2. 1 2 3 Senter, Al (2009). An Age of Kings: Viewing Notes (booklet included with DVD box-set). London: BBC Video.
  3. ↑ Quoted in Smith, Emma (2007). "Shakespeare Serialized: An Age of Kings". In Shaughnessy, Robert. The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Popular Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 140. ISBN 9780521605809.
  4. ↑ Lennox, Patricia (2001). "Henry VI: A Television History in Four Parts". In Pendleton, Thomas A. Henry VI: Critical Essays. London: Routledge. p. 238. ISBN 9780815338925.
  5. ↑ Lennox, Patricia (2001). "Henry VI: A Television History in Four Parts". In Pendleton, Thomas A. Henry VI: Critical Essays. London: Routledge. p. 237. ISBN 9780815338925.
  6. ↑ Quoted in Smith, Emma (2007). "Shakespeare Serialized: An Age of Kings". In Shaughnessy, Robert. The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Popular Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 137. ISBN 9780521605809.
  7. ↑ Quoted in Smith, Emma (2007). "Shakespeare Serialized: An Age of Kings". In Shaughnessy, Robert. The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare and Popular Culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 136. ISBN 9780521605809.
  8. ↑ Lennox, Patricia (2001). "Henry VI: A Television History in Four Parts". In Pendleton, Thomas A. Henry VI: Critical Essays. London: Routledge. p. 239. ISBN 9780815338925.

External links

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