Blu-ray

Shakespeare: Henry IV Part I (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Shakespeare: Henry IV Part I (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Jasper Britton (Henry IV); Antony Sher (Falstaff); Alex Hassell (Hal); Trevor White (Hotspur); Sean Chapman (Earl of Northumberland/Earl of Douglas); Youssef Kerkour (Earl of Westmoreland); Elliot Barnes-Worrell (Prince John); Paola Dionisotti (Mistress Quickly); Nicholas Gerard-Martin (Carrier/Sir Michael); Jonny Glynn (Rakewell); Nia Gwynne (Lady Mortimer); Alex Hassell (Prince Hal);

"Shakespeare's two greatest plays have always been a defining experience for RSC directors. Gregory Doran now puts his decisive seal on the company by offering a production that, like last year's Richard II, combines richness of texture with psychological insight. It also contains a major performance from Antony Sher as Falstaff." (The Guardian ★★★★)

Shakespeare: Henry IV Part II (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Shakespeare: Henry IV Part II (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Jasper Britton (Henry IV); Antony Sher (John Falstaff); Alex Hassell (Prince Hal); Paola Dionisotti (Mistress Quickly); Oliver Ford Davies (Justice Shallow); Jim Hooper (Justice Silence/Gower); Antony Byrne (Rumour/Porter/Pistol); Robert Gilbert (Travers/Sir John Coleville); Nia Gwynne (Doll Tearsheet/Lady Northumberland); Keith Osborne (Archbishop of York); Joshua Richards (Bardolph); Trevor White (Lord Mowbray);

"Shakespeare's two greatest plays have always been a defining experience for RSC directors. Gregory Doran now puts his decisive seal on the company by offering a production that, like last year's Richard II, combines richness of texture with psychological insight. It also contains a major performance from Antony Sher as Falstaff. But, although Sher's is the dominant performance, everything in Doran's production bespeaks long-range planning. Jasper Britton's fine Henry IV is a tormented usurper, first seen prostrate in self-abasing prayer, capable of volcanic violence: his brutal treatment of Trevor White's bolshie Hotspur in the opening scenes explains the ensuing rebellion." (The Guardian ★★★★)

Shakespeare: Henry V (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Shakespeare: Henry V (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Alex Hassell (King Henry V); Jane Lapotaire (Queen Isobel); Sarah Parks (Mistress Quickly ); Leigh Quinn (Alice ); Joshua Richards (Bardolph/Fluellen); Simon Thorp (King of France); Anthony Byrne (Pistol); Sean Chapman (Exeter); Oliver Ford Davies (Chorus); Robert Gilbert (Dauphin ); Gregory Doran (Director );

"... the Shakespearean event of the autumn... this is just what the nation ordered." (The Daily Telegraph ★★★★★)

Shakespeare: Julius Caesar (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Shakespeare: Julius Caesar (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Andrew Woodall (Julius Caesar); James Corrigan (Mark Antony); Martin Hutson (Cassius); Jon Tarcy (Octavius); Alex Waldmann (Brutus); Patrick Drury (Publius/Cinna the Poet); Hannah Morrish (Portia); Kristin Atherton (Calphurnia); Anthony Ofoegbu (Cicero/Ligarius); David Burnett (Murullus/Trebonius/Pindarus); Marcello Walton (Flavius/Lepidus); Dharmesh Patel (Decius/Messala);

"Everything about this production feels right Martin Hutson's brilliant Cassius... James Corrigan's Mark Antony is a calculating cynic The great virtue of the production is its nuanced portrayal of the divisions among those conspiring against a dictatorial Caesar" (The Guardian ★★★★)

Shakespeare: King & Country Box Set (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Shakespeare: King & Country Box Set (Royal Shakespeare Company)

David Tennant (Richard II (Richard II)); Michael Pennington (John of Gaunt (Richard II)); Jane Lapotaire (Duchess of Gloucester (Richard II); Queen Isobel (Henry V)); Jasper Britton (Henry IV (Henry IV)); Antony Sher (Falstaff (Henry IV)); Alex Hassell (King Henry V (Henry V));

"Shakespeare's two greatest plays have always been a defining experience for RSC directors. Gregory Doran now puts his decisive seal on the company by offering a production that, like last year's Richard II, combines richness of texture with psychological insight. It also contains a major performance from Antony Sher as Falstaff." (The Guardian ★★★★ - Henry IV Part II)

Shakespeare: King Lear (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Shakespeare: King Lear (Royal Shakespeare Company)

Antony Sher (King Lear); Kelly Williams (Regan); Nia Gwynee (Goneril); Natalie Simpson (Cordelia ); Paapa Essiedu (Edmund); Oliver Johnstone (Edgar); David Troughton (Gloucester); James Clyde (Cornwall); Antony Byrne (Kent); Byron Mondahl (Oswald); Clarence Smith (Albany); Graham Turner (Fool);

"Guardian ★★★★" (Antony Sher is unbearably moving as the volatile king, in Gregory Doran’s stellar production full of standout performances)