Newsnight Review discussed Henry V at the National Theatre.

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(Edited highlights of the panel's review taken from the teletext subtitles that are generated live for Newsnight Review.)

TIM LOTT:
It's a real people's production. Almost an Andy McNabb influence coming in there! You got the sense you were in there, there's armoured vehicles coming on. Possibly one too many at one point. Lots of bangs and crashes. It really is a very dynamic and energetic performance. It's not a play I have been fond of before. I have never particularly liked Henry V. I found the history plays generally rather dull. But I was entranced throughout. I didn't think Adrian Lester's performance was perfect. It lost a lot of its internal life and it was an exterior performance, in a way. It had terrific charisma. There are some very long boring sections in this play, and he dealt with that terribly well, I felt.

BONNIE GREER:
I think this is easily the first great Shakespearean production of the 21st century. This is gorgeous. Hytner could have done something very, very simple - made an anti-war play. He doesn't. He puts war on the stage. You walk out of there with what you want to take out of it. If you never understood why this was Shakespeare's first great hit, you will when you see this. It has everything. The jokes. The little foreign stuff going on. The only thing I don't agree with you about is that I think that Adrian Lester's performance is magnificent. It's a very anti-Henry performance. We usually see very romantic Henrys or people who play the verse. He plays helm very metallically, very coldly. He has a job to do and he sets out to do it. It's a wonderful performance.

KIRSTY WARK:
On the chilling business, when he puts the gun to the head of the looter and kills him, you know it's coming but you still feel...

BONNIE GREER:
There are atrocities on both sides. People are invoking God on both sides. It is a play about the reality of war. If you are for war, you will love it. If you are against war, you will love it.

KIRSTY WARK:
Hytner points out that spin was around¿ Agincourt was spun right from when it happened, but what did you make of the addition of the big screens, and the lovely moment when some of Henry's speech is turned into French, for the French.

ADAM MARS-JONES:
It created laugh in itself. Very Iraq, and very, "Here's how we are going to make your culture read to itself." It was kept moving, but the only thing I didn't think worked was the "once more into the breech speech", perhaps because it has to be with people with swords, looking into the eyes of people they are going to kill. The killing at a distance didn't work with that particular thing.

BONNIE GREER:
I think it absolutely worked because it showed a war-weary young man out to do what he has to do. We also have to mention, or I have to say, that this is a triumph in every way. Cast, but especially the director. The Olivier is a monster, and Hytner tames it. It's beautiful.

ADAM MARS-JONES:
The 80s music didn't work, I thought.

TIM LOTT:
There was a fantastic atmosphere. The promise at the beginning by the chorus, that we are going to take you to these places, is absolutely fulfilled. I think the greatest battle scenes I have ever seen on a stage. Absolutely. Quite remarkable. I was absolutely there, and frightened and shocked, and terrified when the summary executions were taking place as well. It's a fantastic battle play.