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Let’s be honest: the Wars of the Roses would have been more fun if the Lancastrians had dragons. Writer George RR Martin was always onto a winner, then, when he threw in a couple in his hit ‘Game of Thrones’ series, which he’s said is inspired by the English civil wars of the fifteenth century. In ‘Play of Thrones’ director Phil Willmott doesn’t, sadly, have the budget for any winged mythical creatures, but he has adapted Shakespeare’s own retelling of that period with ‘Thrones’ fans in mind.
Willmott basically focuses on the plots and characters in the Bard’s ‘Henry VI’ trilogy that parallel those in ‘Game of Thrones’. He sticks mainly to ‘Henry VI, Part 3,’ but includes several strands from the other two plays which tell of the Lancastrians’ and Yorkists’ battle for kingship. ‘Thrones’ fans will enjoy spotting some obvious comparisons: Henry VI is a mixture of King Joffrey and the young Bran Stark; the House of York are very House Lannister with their ruthless, bloody battle tactics and their fucked-up offspring. This is most clear in Richard Plantagenet, the future hunchback king, who has the brains of Tyrion Lannister and the brutality and power lust of Joffrey.
In terms of ‘Thrones’-grade thrills though, those comparisons are as good as you’re going to get. The lumbering set lacks richness, consisting of nothing but huge clunky metal ladders which are barely used in the first half. There are one or two duff performances, but Michael Keane brings the energy up right at the end with his excellent portrayal of Richard, a nasty, conniving sneer constantly on his lips.
Willmott does well to squeeze the hulking trilogy into three hours, but it still drags. Where Martin’s mammoth, intertwining political plots are easy to follow over several books, here, bunched up and cut down, Shakespeare’s similar tales get confused. You’ll find yourself wishing for dragons.