Happy Few

Battle of Agincourt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I’m...

Thu, 14 Oct 2010 16:10:20 -0700

Battle of Agincourt - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I’m no military strategist, but I did play a heck of a lot of Myth and I can tell you that that is an absolutely destructive position the English have there.

I remember hearing how the English use of the longbow helped to grant them victory over superior numbers and the Wikipedia entry pretty much bears that out. Standing on the high ground with their backs to the trees and protected by spikes, the English archers rained arrows down on the French cavalry, mostly killing their horses which were only armored on the head, and forcing the riders to then slog through the mud the rest of the way in their armor on foot. When they finally reached the line they were exhausted, and the unarmored English who could move more easily in the mud made short work of them.

There’s really nothing glamorous about medieval warfare — the only ones who ever really won were the nobility — but the English were outnumbered 6 to 1 at Agincourt and everyone likes to root for the underdog.

Video: Inspiration from Branagh Henry V (Act 4. Scene III. -...

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:41:00 -0700

Video: Inspiration from Branagh

Henry V (Act 4. Scene III. - “St. Crispin’s Day Speech”)

Version: 1989 film
Director: Kenneth Branagh
Producer: Bruce Sharman, BBC
Actor: Kenneth Branagh
Wikipedia: Henry V (1989 film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cRj01LShXN8

Branagh’s film is frequently compared with the 1944 film of the play directed by and starring Laurence Olivier. The visual style of Branagh’s film is grittier and more realist than that of Olivier’s. For example, his film avoids Olivier’s use of stylized sets, and, where Olivier staged the Battle of Agincourt on a sunlit field, Branagh’s takes place amid rain-drenched mud and gore.
[…]
Henry V received near-universal critical acclaim for Branagh’s Oscar-nominated performance and direction, for the accessibility of its Shakespearean language and particularly for its music.
[…]
Phyllis Dalton won the Academy Award for Best Costume Design and Kenneth Branagh, in his directorial debut, was nominated for Best Director as well as Best Actor in a Leading Role.

Video: Inspiration from Olivier Henry V (Act 4. Scene III. -...

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:40:00 -0700

Video: Inspiration from Olivier

Henry V (Act 4. Scene III. - “St. Crispin’s Day Speech”)

Version: 1944 film
Director: Laurence Olivier
Producer: Filippo Del Giudice, Laurence Olivier
Actor: Laurence Olivier
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P9fa3HFR02E
Wikipedia: Henry V (1944 film) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The film begins as a recreation of a stage production of the play in the Globe Theatre, then gradually turns into a stylized cinematic rendition of the play, with sets reminiscent of a medieval Book of Hours.

The film was made near the end of World War II and was intended as a morale booster for Britain. Consequently, the film was partly funded by the British government. The movie won Olivier an Academy Honorary Award for “his Outstanding achievement as actor, producer and director in bringing Henry V to the screen.”

Learn The Speech

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:32:00 -0700

Although you’re encouraged to be as creative and ambitious as you like with your St. Crispin’s Day project, to be included here, it should at a minimum include a recited performance of lines 2262 through 2310. That’s this monologue from Act IV, Scene III:

Henry V (Modern, based on the Folio) :: Internet Shakespeare Editions :: Internet Shakespeare Editions

[…]

KING HENRY

What’s he that wishes so?
My cousin Westmorland? No, my fair cousin,
If we are marked to die, we are enough
To do our country loss; and if to live,
The fewer men, the greater share of honor.
God’s will, I pray thee wish not one man more.
By Jove, I am not covetous for gold,
Nor care I who doth feed upon my cost.
It earns me not if men my garments wear;
Such outward things dwell not in my desires.
But if it be a sin to covet honor,
I am the most offending soul alive.
No, faith, my coz, wish not a man from England.
God’s peace, I would not lose so great an honor
As one man more methinks would share from me
For the best hope I have. Oh, do not wish one more.
Rather proclaim it, Westmorland, through my host
That he which hath no stomach to this fight,
Let him depart. His passport shall be made
And crowns for convoy put into his purse.
We would not die in that man’s company
That fears his fellowship to die with us.
This day is called the feast of Crispian.
He that outlives this day and comes safe home
Will stand a tiptoe when this day is named
And rouse him at the name of Crispian.
He that shall see this day and live old age
Will yearly on the vigil feast his neighbors
And say, “Tomorrow is Saint Crispian.”
Then will he strip his sleeve and show his scars.
Old men forget; yet all shall be forgot,
But he’ll remember, with advantages,
What feats he did that day. Then shall our names,
Familiar in his mouth as household words —
Harry the king, Bedford and Exeter,
Warwick and Talbot, Salisbury and Gloucester —
Be in their flowing cups freshly remembered.
This story shall the good man teach his son,
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be rememberèd,
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition.
And gentlemen in England now abed,
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

Start Here

Mon, 11 Oct 2010 10:30:00 -0700

Welcome to “IntEvGenCoMemPerStirSaCrisDaSpeFroHankSankFo.”¹

The Assignment

This is a timed exercise that involves you and William Shakespeare, so please listen closely:

Commit the St. Crispin’s Day Speech from Henry V to memory
Rehearse and adapt it to your personal style
- (to where you could, say, perform it on command in a salmon processing plant break room)
Create a video, audio, or other multimedia thingee that incorporates your adaptation of the speech
- It’s okay to be creative and make it your own
- That’s kinda the idea
Submit it here by 5pm on October 25, 2010.
- Yep. That’s St. Crispin’s Day
Gentle everyone’s condition

The Rules

You gotta actually memorize the speech
- That you’re performing the speech from memory should come through in your project
You gotta try
- Don’t not try
You gotta like what you made
- Only post it if it’s something you’re proud of
Aloha. This is my Globe
- I reserve the right to reject or accept anything that’s submitted without cause, comment, or reason,
  - (although anything I do accept will run as you submit it, uncensored or what have you).
- I’m like the App Store of Shakespeare, right?

The Anything Else?

I’m Merlin, I accidentally posted something early, I got inspired, and now I want us to go perform some Shakespeare as a result.

That’s it. There’s no Facebook group, there’s nothing to friend, and no one in “the community” needs to know where you had lunch.

Just go make this if you want. It’ll be fun. Okay? Thanks.

“IntEvGenCoMemPerStirSaCrisDaSpeFroHankSankFo” is our catchy acronym for “The ‘Everybody Gentle Our Condition by Memorizing and Performing that Stirring St. Crispin’s Day Speech from Henry V’ Fortnight.” ↩