1966 Production of HENRY V is Coming to Stratfest@Home

A very special part of Stratford Festival history is coming to Stratfest@Home on December 26: the 1966 production of Shakespeare’s Henry V.

Directed by Artistic Director of the time Michael Langham and featuring Douglas Rain in the title role, the production was captured in CTV’s Agincourt studios – fitting for a play that includes the Battle of Agincourt. It was produced as a special broadcast for Canada’s Centennial in 1967. The production was widely viewed and received tremendous reviews, but it was never seen again.

Thanks to the urging of Douglas Rain’s son David and some heroic work by Festival staff, the film has been rediscovered and relicensed for viewing on the Festival’s streaming platform.

Like Langham’s 1956 production of the play, it featured French Canadian actors in the French court, including (future artistic director) Jean Gascon as the King of France, Jean-Louis Roux as the Duke of Burgundy and Diana Leblanc as Katharine. It was considered to be of such significance that it was chosen to be a Centennial project. It would be the biggest production the CTV affiliate CFTO had ever taken on and the first time a Shakespeare play was broadcast in colour.

The stage production, designed by Desmond Heeley, was part of the 1966 season. The cast included such fixtures of the Stratford stage asAmelia Hall and William Hutt, along with a who’s who of 20th century Canadian theatre talent.

After the show closed, there began what Langham described as a “grand experiment,” as he took his a staged production to television for the first time. The first task he faced was to trim the show to fit the two-hour time slot, which meant cutting 33 minutes. 

The cast spent 11 days in studio, six days rehearsing and five devoted to the shoot. Langham served as producer and co-director with television director Lorne Freed. The CTV production cost a substantial $150,000. There were 53 actors and 45 technicians involved. Freed later called it “a masterpiece.”

The production will be available on Stratfest@Home beginning on December 26.

Other titles coming to Stratfest@Home this season include Casey and Diana, Richard II, Richard III, Women of the Fur Trade and Much Ado About Nothing.

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