Company description::
Peter Babakitis, Emmy award-winning director of the film Kuksu, has created a new digital film experience with William Shakepeare’s Henry V.
“I was attracted by this play because I thought it would be fascinating to get into the mind of this rather cold-blooded killer who believes he’s doing God’s work.” Explains Mr. Babakitis.
“Shakespeare gives us a sinister underside to the glory of conquest; an aspect of the play that I thought was lacking in in other productions that I’ve seen.”
“He is an isolated character, a victim of his own competence as a leader, and of the faith placed by others in him. His midnight wandering on the night before the battle of the most interesting self-reflective writing in all of Shakespeare, revealing the emptiness in the eye of the storm that this man had created.”
Directing and acting in the same production proved a challenge to Mr. Babakitis, and he describes his routine:
“I prepared physically for the role with aikido training, medieval broadsword practice, which is quite different from modern foil fencing, and hours and hours of horseback riding. I do a kind of yogic breathing exercise to be able to handle the long speeches. I was also performing on stage in San Francisco in Frankenstein: A Modern Prometheus during the course of the production as well, so I found I was using a lot of that work, and the coaching given me by Robert Lundy-Paine, the director of Frankenstein, who Plays the duke of Orleans in Henry V.”
“in the end, I think the play is written in such a way to support the character of Henry; the other charcters create a matrix in which Henry exists, so in a way—and I think this is thematic—he is defined by those around him. He is profoundly lost, except for his responsibility to the endeavor that he has created—and I think this is a very modern condition.”
“Other Productions that focus on Henry the patriotic hero miss this important aspect, but it’s this moral ambiguity that I find makes him interesting.”
William Shakespeare’s Henry V is due to be released this spring by Sumless Treasuries Releasing. Contact: publicity@henrythefifth.com
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