Perhaps this production felt that the audience would enjoy their history with a laid-back flavour? I went along with this style and although I very much enjoyed it - especially Sarah Amankwha’s sincere, beaming smile -the production might have been better served with the usual thrills that the battles of Harfleur and Agincourt usually muster. When the newly crowned young King Henry V tells the snooty French messenger “tell the Dauphin I am coming” I was all set for the hair on the back of my neck to tingle but the threat was thrown away. The most perfectly rounded of the three plays, Henry V is all set to bring home the hero and although this production delivered the goods, there was a casualness to the movement and vocal delivery that may be have been a directorial choice. Thankfully Mistress Quickly and the boys make another appearance and Jonathan Broadbent’s adorable hostess brings back the fun to Eastcheap. My only disappointment in part two was a slightly less than noble King Henry IV who never quite embodied the presence or pride of a warrior King, and the lack of emotion opening the play when Northumberland’s reaction to news of his death was glanced over without the tragedy we should have felt. Although it continues Hal’s journey from boy to man, this time distanced from his old pal Falstaff, whose boozy and traitorous meanderings result in a final casting aside when Hal is crowned King. The second part is heavier, less fun, beginning with Northumberland hearing the tragic news of his son’s death. I can’t believe I’m the only one who enjoyed how much her performance resembled Jennifer Saunders’s Eddie from Ab Fab with her hair, her dippy-hippy, debauched Sloane dialect and delicious ad-libbing unashamedly echoing the likeness. Helen Schlesinger is a joyous Falstaff, who completely held the audience in her hands, bouncing around the stage as the most agile Falstaff I’ve ever seen. Michelle Terry is a powerful, ferocious Hotspur and the stylised, non-contact fight choreography between her and Prince Hal was stripped back and impressive. Harry to Harry, the young Prince has at last proven his worth, and is ready to take up his place by his father’s side. It seems that their rival, Hotspur will be successful in his rebellion and defeat the King, when at the crucial moment, Prince Hal rises to the occasion and supports his father against the rebels, killing Percy in a one on one fight on the battlefield. Unfortunately for the King, Prince Hal is propping up taverns in Cheapside, hanging out with the wrong sort rather than preparing for duty. But the King makes harsh demands of the Percy family who in turn form a rebellion backed by Mortimer and Glendower of Wales, Douglas of Scotland and the powerful Worcester - all rising up against their former ally never did the Henry IV need his son more. King Henry IV (Bollingbroke) is on the throne as it begins, celebrating another victory of young Hotspur whilst wishing his own son Hal, would be half as noble. Part 1 finds the Bollingbroke family who have been assisted in winning the crown of England by the wealthy Earl of Northumberland and his mighty son Harry Percy (Hotspur). Bravo to Michelle Terry and directors Sarah Bedi and Federay Holmes for letting the story shine with no need for expensive gilding. It is light on set design, props and unnecessary decoration and instead is rich with simple humanity and story. A story of loyalty, love, duty and honour, the rise of the boy to man links the three plays and the exposition hidden in well delivered gags makes the story all the more clear. In the Globe’s Henry IV and V trilogy, the comedy is dialled up to the max and as a result the action switches between riotous romp, pulling us up with the sudden reality of war, reminding us that these were extraordinary times lived by ordinary people.