Game of Thrones star will appear in production focusing on modern political power, part of the London theatre’s reopening season
Kit Harington is to star as Shakespeare’s Henry V in a modern-day staging that examines the corrupting influence of power and “leadership in a time of crisis”.
The production will be presented in February next year at a newly renovated Donmar Warehouse in London, whose artistic director, Michael Longhurst, has planned a reopening season of plays exploring the individual’s role within society. Harington, best known as Jon Snow in the TV juggernaut Game of Thrones, has already been seen in the realm of “fantasy leadership”, said Longhurst. As Henry V, he will explore “modern political power and the psychology behind that”. The show will be directed by Max Webster, whose acclaimed Life of Pi transfers to the West End later this year.
Webster is “not interested in a production that has boys waggling swords”, said Longhurst. “We are, rightly, really looking at our leadership in a time of crisis and how it steps up or doesn’t, and how power can corrupt and what it means to have a privileged white man running a country that is much more diverse than that. And also, of course, our relationship with those across the Channel feels absolutely relevant right now – and unification is a theme running though Henry V.” Continue reading »
