After being left disappointed by Gregory Doran's take on part 2 of the Bard's play, when I got a day ticket to the first part, my expectations were low. Luckily, the Henry IV part 1 is substantially better then part 2. As it is, in my opinion, Shakespeare's best play, it would have taken a truly terrible performance to put me off liking it. There are still the problems that were present in Stratford. I still found Sher's Falstaff to be too smug and dis-likeable for me and the production feels a bit too safe. However, the jokes still made me chuckle even if they were not as big as the Globe's laughs, and the battle is very effective. One thing I noticed as well was Englishby's score which is superb, with the main theme 'Urbs Beatta Jerusalem' sending shivers up my spine. Whilst this is far from perfection, it is quite a bit better than it's second part.
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