Color on the Set of Shakespeare’s Henry V Essay -- Henry V

comment on the Set of Shakespeares Henry V Differences in color, speci each(prenominal)y sharp differences, emphasize the differences in moods between two parties darker colors express seriousness, tour light colors connote frivolity. For a play of much(prenominal)(prenominal) stark contrasts as Henry V, color design like this heightens the divide. By darkening the set and costumes of the English, adding occasional bright swathes of red in a flag or a curtain, while presenting the french in a variety of pastels, accented with gold, the art directors of this performance were able to distance the two nations in their solemnity towards the act of war. The costume of the English, a mishmash of modern-day and renaissance flares, whether the padded flak armor style of the English, or the jackets-and-kilts style of the assisting Scottish, ranges from black to dark olive to a dingy gray all in the same dim shade. Heavily contrasting this almost let loose blackness are the silver ac cents swords and necklaces, medals and rings. But even these give the full-length of the English phalanx a monochromatic scheme if it werent for the faces and hands, maven might start to see the play as a fool shot in black and white (even more suggested with the occasional brusk filmsall black and whiteprojected upon the backdrop). This darkness parallels the English armys bleak view of the war the French have insulted and withheld grunge from Henry, and they far outnumber the English at the Battle of Agincourt. All this changes when the Earl of Cambridge, manufacturer Scroop, and Sir Thomas Gray are arrested for treason. When Exeter rips their shoulder badges off, the bright red disperse in the patchs center is as clear as the sun. The color red, being the third most recognizable shade to the h... ...ndred, a large number of former squires that commanded units. The French costume enhanced their moorage toward the war, and was additionally boosted by the English contrast. Color can play such an important role in theatre, and when it is used to show such a contrast, especially in a play of such preexisting contrasts as Henry V, it instills a new life in the two sides, while also revitalizing the conflict and drawing a clear occupancy between the French and English. It is the same divide we see before and later the Great War, or before and after Vietnam. The view of war has changed in the modern eye, and the dark English costumes show this jaded view of war, with the French sharing the same frivolous view as the prewar 1900s, or the 1950s. And, even as these views are demonstrated in the text, the colors of the sharpen these perceptions in the mind of the viewer.