See title. Also how long has making fun of lawyers been a punchline?

How is everyone liking the play? Who is your favorite character? This is my first time reading it and I’m still in Act I, excited to see how things develop.

• Zoom version done in 2020
• Oregon Shakespeare production from 1953 audio recording with pictures
• Audiobook on YouTube
• TVO 1990 production
• This version combines parts of H VI P1 P2 in Episode 1. H VI Pt 2 and Pt 3 in Episode 2

Jan 18-25

Comment with your thoughts on this play:

• What are your observations or questions?
• Which scenes moved you?
• What characters or moments didn’t work for you?
• What plot holes did you find or issues did you have?
• What are versions of the play you’ve seen and what did they bring to the text?

This is a great community, so we’d love to hear your thoughts.

* * * * *

This comment board is part of the Shakespeare 2020 project, an informal reading group covering the complete works of Shakespeare in one year. (But we encourage everyone to join in the discussion, even if it’s been years since you’ve read this play. We'd love your insights.)

Join in on the fun by checking out Ian Doescher’s website: https://iandoescher.com/shakespeare/

You can see the complete schedule to join us for an upcoming play.

# Next Play: Henry VI Pt 3 - January 27- Feb 2

For info about Ponytail Marginalia see this post; briefly, this thread is for posting any observation, no matter how slight, on Henry VI Part 2, thru act the third.

Text: at Open Source Shakespeare

Summary: The first scene starts with Margaret, Suffolk, Cardinal, and York warning Henry of Gloucester's treachery; Gloucester comes, they accuse him to his face; he is arrested; King leaves and the remaining nobles plan to kill Gloucester. At the end, York is left alone onstage and declares his intent to take the crown. In the second scene, Warwick accuses Suffolk of treason; commoners petition against Suffolk, and Henry exiles him. Margaret and Suffolk declare their love for each other. In the third, very short, scene, Cardinal Beaufort dies.

Act 4 on March 16, and that has one of the best-known lines in all of literature, up there with "Call me Ishmael," and "Mother died today"

This probably comes too late for most here, but the Royal Shakespeare Company filmed a full rehearsal of 1 Henry VI, which can be booked and watched until midnight here:

https://www.rsc.org.uk/henry-vi-part-i

Although it is a rehearsal, it is a professional production and professionally filmed, indeed it is much more interactively engaging with the camera then the RSC's usual live productions. Highly recommended (and a good way to support a company).

Ponytail Marginalia #6/195; Henry VI Part 2, Act I

Ponytail Shakespeare is described here; in brief, it's a three-year read thru of all the plays, one play per month.

Marginalia posts are for noting any little observation about the plays. Respond in the comments with anything, no matter how slight, that interests you, whether about style, insights into cultural history, how a role has been played, or anything else. I hope these posts will give rise to brainstorming and sometimes spin off into full posts about some more significant aspect.

Here is Open Source Shakespeare Henry VI part 2 Act I

Act II will be March VIII

Summary

Much denser in action and harder to summarize than anything in Part I:

Suffolk and Margaret return to England, she to be Henry's queen, and a flood of amicable speech greets her from assembled nobles. Once she and Henry are off stage to go get her coronated, resentments start flaring against Henry and Suffolk for giving away Henry V's French victories for a marriage. At end of scene 1, Richard of York (father of Edward, Clarence and Richard III), alone on stage, declares he has his eye on the crown.

Eleanor, Gloucester's wife encourages him to seek the crown: he's lord protector and Henry's uncle. He chastises her. She hires wizards and witches.

Queen Margaret complains to Suffolk that the king's too bookish, religious and not a man of action, he assures her he'll work things out so she gets some worldly advantage. Nobles unite a bit to attack Gloucester's mismanagement of England. Suspicion is cast on Richard by a petitioner who accuses his master of claiming York has a claim on the crown.

Eleanor's hirelings summon a demon who makes dire predictions; she's arrested.

On to the first of the Histories! It's no secret that I'm a sucker for a play with a high body count and plenty of political intrigue... I'd love to know what you think. I know at least one person on this sub really isn't a fan and I'm looking forward to finding out why.

https://jenbitespeople.com/2017/01/25/the-roughly-chronological-re-read-week-3-henry-vi-part-2/

This is a "brainstorming" post. In the comments, put any little thing you notice -- it can be about the style, stage practicalities, how a line relates to a theme, or how a line sets up another.

Schedule and more about Ponytail Shakespeare and intent of marginalia posts here; Act 3 marginalia will be on the 13th.

Synopsis -- In France, Talbot drives the French from their position; a stratagem to capture him by a french noblewoman fails. Back in England, Scene IV, Richard Plantagenet and Somerset start drawing sides for the war of the roses. Richard visits his dying uncle Mortimer.

Here is Act 2

Here's a link about the schedule and intent of these marginalia posts.

Marginalia thread for Henry VI Part 3, Act I will be posted April 3.

Summary - Act V is very short, about 375 of the 3350 lines of the play.

York returns to England, plotting to seize the throne. He is forestalled from immediate action by assurances that Somerset is arrested. York swears loyalty to Henry; York's gathered forces will presumably deal with Cade. Iden arrives, announces Cade's death, and is knighted. A moment later, Somerset strolls onto the stage, free, and the swords come out: Richard declares himself the king of England; sides are drawn. At St Alban's (same place as the Act II hawking scene) Clifford and York battle and Clifford dies honorably. Clifford's son vows revenge. Richard the Younger (future Richard III) kills Somerset. Richard and his party, in the final, 25-line scene, reunite, declare glorious victory, and exeunt in pursuit of Henry.

Ok so I'm planning on editing the Henry VI trilogy and Richard III into three parts, focussing solely on the Wars of the Roses and the power struggles in English politics.

• Henry VI (scenes from part 1 and 2)
• Edward IV (all of part 3)
• Richard III (all of Richard III)

I'll admit, the Henry VI trilogy (especially part 1 and the early half of part 2, notably Act 2, Scene 1) suffers from poor writing.

Here is what I want to keep in and cut out:

• Keep in the riots in Part 2 (a very important scene, the ‘to be or not to be’ scene of Henry VI)
• Keep in Exeter through Henry VI and Edward IV
• Cut out Cobham's plot and Salisbury (both are completely useless)
• Cut out the apprentice fight, the falconry scene and the false miracle in part 2

What should I keep in? What scenes or characters should I cut out? How should I handle the characters? How can I trim down the scene between Edward and Lady Grey?

I have an audition on Friday and regarding this scene (specifically Duchess' monologue ["Ah, Gloucester, teach me to forget myself!"]) and it would really help to see how other actors portrayed her in this scene.

Only thing I can't find any videos. Can someone help me out with a link to a video portrayal of this scene? Thanks :)

I’m reading Henry VI p 1 for the first time (trying to make my way through the cannon). I’m seeing a Gloucester and a York and a Plantagenet. Which one continues on to be Richard III? Or does he not show up until part 2 or 3? Just trying to visualize it so the characters are distinguished in my head. Thanks!

Okay all 🙂 thought I'd do another because there are so many more.. 👍

View Poll

From the “performance notes” in my edition: “Cade can be a socialist crusader or a monster, engaging his followers in valid rebellion or mindless anarchy.”

Cade is obviously a brainless buffoon.

How is it possible to portray him positively in a performance? Has anyone seen a performance where he was?

##Node Compositions

#Day 2

• Drops: Medals, B/R Saber Gems, G Lancer Gem, Embers
• Knight Enforcer Traits: Human, Humanoid, Male
• Ember Hand Trait: Divine

#Day 3

• Drops: Feathers, B/R/G Archer Gems, Embers
• Amazonian Traits: Human, Humanoid, Female
• Ember Hand Trait: Divine

#Day 4

• Drops: Gears, Spine Fluid, B/R Caster+Rider Gems, G Rider Gem, Embers
• Yakuza Traits: Evil, Human, Humanoid, Male
• Helter Skelter Traits: Mechanical
• Ember Hand Trait: Divine

#Day 5

• Drops: Lamp, Bullets, B/R Archer Gems, G Caster Gem, Embers
• Hornet Traits: Evil, Human, Humanoid, Male
• Ifreet Traits: Demonic, Female
• Ember Hand Trait: Divine

#Day 6

• Drops: Galstones, Arrowheads, B/R Assassin Gems, G Berserker Gem, Embers
• Soullless Ones Traits: Human, Humanoid, Male
• Giant Demon Boar Traits: Wild Beast, Demonic, Super Large
• Ember Hand Trait: Divine

##Guides and Links

• Wikia
• Farming Efficiency by u/Amarfas

####HUNTING QUESTS USE EVENT SUPPORT SLOTS!

For one of my French literature modules this year we are studying Jules Michelet’s Jeanne d’Arc. One of our assignments revolves around a 2,000 word dissertation on Michelet’s work and historiography.

I am therefore pondering on possibly incorporating Shakespeare’s play somehow into this essay, however I would like some advice before making a purchase of the play and reading it. Is Joan of Arc a main character in the play? Does she appear in Part 2? Is the play historically accurate, thereby fitting into the genre of historiography? Any other relevant information appreciated!

The only prior precedent for a queen regnant was Henry I's attempt to get his daughter Matilda recognized as queen and it led to a devastating civil war.

Where natural opportunities are all monopolized, wages may be forced by the competition among laborers to the minimum at which laborers will consent to reproduce.

Let me start with the good news; Part 8 of my Perfect Playthrough is finished, and am about to get started on Part 9. The bad news; it took this long just to finish Part 9.

After much thought and consideration, I've decided to take a break from uploading any more parts of my Perfect Playthrough of this game. Consider my Floating Runner video to be the Season 1 finale of Perfect Playthroughs. My objective during this break is to finish the main game itself before uploading any more episodes. Most importantly, however; rather than upload every episode onto YouTube weekly, I intend to upload all the episodes daily.

I was hoping to be all but done with the World of Balance by this point in time, but it appears that progress has been going much slower than I'd like. As we're nearing the end of the first half of the game, grinding becomes paramount since a great many items and enemies that can only be found in the World of Balance are about to disappear forever. That, more than any other reason, is why I missed the January 2nd upload date, and have nothing left to keep this series going on a weekly basis.

Keep in mind too that I still have work and college to contend with, so my duties are split in several different places. A lot of mistakes were made along the way, but I have to get better at managing my personal time. A ton of Let's Players on YouTube like HC Bailey and Chuggaconnory have not only been doing these for years, but earn a living off of these videos. They also take lengthy breaks in between Let's Plays in order to try and upload a completed Playthrough all at once whenever possible. And I've got a long, long, long way to go before I'm anywhere close to their level.

So, when will Part 8 be uploaded? Honestly, I'm hoping for an April release at the absolute latest. By that point in time, the main playthrough should be all but finished, and I'd only really need to work on some wrap-up videos inbetween. I might work on something else in the meantime, but my number 1 priority is Final Fantasy VI Advance.

Ponytail Shakespeare is described here; in brief, it's a three-year read thru of all the plays, one play per month.

Marginalia posts are for noting any little observation about the plays. Respond in the comments with anything, no matter how slight, that interests you, whether about style, insights into cultural history, how a role has been played, or anything else. I hope these posts will give rise to brainstorming and sometimes spin off into full posts about some more significant aspect.

Here is Open Source Shakespeare Henry VI part 2 Act II

Act III will be March 13, and the bigger schedule is in the link at the top of the post.

There are 4 scenes in act 2 - the first starts with hawking; there is Simpcox's false miracle (he claims to be cured of blindness, which Gloucester disproves). In the second York wins the Nevilles' support; in the third a lot happens briskly: Eleanor is banished and her black-magic weilding minions condemend to death, Gloucester is relieved of being Protector and Henry takes up actively kinging, and Peter Thump kills his master; and in the 4th, Gloucester and Eleanor talk, she's turned over to Stanley and he's summoned to a Parliament he was never consulted about.

There are longer roles for commoners in these scenes than anything I remember in part I, excepting Joan and her father, but they still aren't as interesting as the murderers in Richard III. And I think we see more deliberate dwelling on ideas of nobility and royalty, pride and shame.

Jan 10-16

Comment with your thoughts on this play:

• What are your observations or questions?
• Which scenes moved you?
• What characters or moments didn’t work for you?
• What plot holes did you find or issues did you have?
• What are versions of the play you’ve seen and what did they bring to the text?

This is a great community, so we’d love to hear your thoughts.

* * * * *

This comment board is part of the Shakespeare 2020 project, an informal reading group covering the complete works of Shakespeare in one year. (But we encourage everyone to join in the discussion, even if it’s been years since you’ve read this play. We'd love your insights.)

Join in on the fun by checking out Ian Doescher’s website: https://iandoescher.com/shakespeare/

You can see the complete schedule to join us for an upcoming play.

# Next text: Henry VI Part 2 - January 18-25

# Then Henry VI Pt 3 (who knew?!) - January 27- Feb 2