Shakespeare’s Henry V can be performed as either patriotic jingoism or anti-war propaganda. The latter interpretation is much more popular these days. Henry, the man, can be acted as either hero or war criminal. It all depends which bits of the text are cut. But what happens when Henry is played by a woman? The answer, in this instance, is you don’t believe it for one moment. I wouldn’t want this Henry V to be anybody’s first Shakespeare or indeed anybody’s first Henry V.
There are not enough roles in the theatre for women. One of the ways to address the problem, in Shakespeare at any rate, is to have woman play male roles and turn them into female roles.
