ENGLISH KINGS KILLING FOREIGNERS

Soho Theatre

★★★½

“Thought-provoking and supremely relevant”

How relevant can a play from 1599 be in the present day? Can it serve as more than just entertainment? In ‘English Kings Killing Foreigners’, Shakespeare’s Globe Ensemble actors Nina Bowers and Philip Arditti prove that the Bard’s ‘Henry V’, a history play in which the English king invades France to claim the throne, remains disturbingly current.

In the show’s ‘prologue’, Nina (Nina Bowers) and Phil (Philip Arditti) roll out a whiteboard displaying ‘English [Blank] Killing [Blank]’. We are merrily invited to think of the many possible insertions at hand, not-so-subtly probing the audience to conjure up a range of British war crimes etc. With that out of the way, we learn that the lead of a fictional upcoming production of ‘Henry V’ has died and that the inexperienced Nina has unexpectedly been cast as the King. As a Canadian, queer woman of mixed race, the casting is a statement she never asked to make. Begrudgingly encouraged by Jewish-Turkish actor Phil to take the role, the two begin to question what it means to play a white English king as an immigrant in Britain.

Interspersed with a healthy dose of lighter comedy, Bowers and Arditti unpick the colonial underpinnings of Shakespeare’s play, which was written in part to fuel morale for the ongoing war with Ireland in the playwright’s own time. By substituting words in the Chorus’ prologue to the second Act (‘Now all the youth of England are on fire…’), the pair imbue its celebration of violence and war with newfound relevance, drawing painful parallels to the current genocide in Gaza. In a piece that occasionally suffers from an excess of fluff, this scene is undoubtedly the strongest.

In the final act, Nina takes to the stage as Henry V, while Phil assumes his role as the Chorus. In a somewhat confusing and chaotic scene, Phil disrupts Nina’s performance to assert that St George’s flag, which features heavily in this fictional staging, should be discarded rather than reclaimed. With too little build-up to this sudden, dramatic fall-out, the very interesting question of the proper fate of one of Britain’s most controversial symbols feels underexplored and disjointed. It is a symptom of a larger issue: though the two characters work well together, the differences between them are not utilised to their full dramatic potential. Luckily, Bowers and Arditti’s excellent chemistry carries the piece, lending it joy and vivacity that also prevents it from feeling overly didactic.

Thought-provoking and supremely relevant, ‘English Kings Killing Foreigners’ would benefit from a bit of streamlining to make its hard-hitting humour and uncomfortable truths shine. By way of its creators’ satisfying comedic performances, it manages to offer a light exploration of the colonialist narratives that underpin British culture.

Tag Archives: Emre Koyuncuoğlu

ENGLISH KINGS KILLING FOREIGNERS

★★★½

Soho Theatre

ENGLISH KINGS KILLING FOREIGNERS

Soho Theatre

★★★½

“Thought-provoking and supremely relevant”