The Wars of the Roses (adaptation)
The Wars of the Roses was a 1963 theatrical adaptation of William Shakespeare's first historical tetralogy, which deals with the conflict between the House of Lancaster and the House of York over the throne of England, a conflict known as the Wars of the Roses. The plays were adapted by John Barton, and directed by Barton and Peter Hall at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. The production starred David Warner as Henry VI, Peggy Ashcroft as Margaret of Anjou, Donald Sinden as the Duke of York, Paul Hardwick as the Duke of Gloucester, Janet Suzman as Joan la Pucelle, Brewster Mason as the Earl of Warwick, Roy Dotrice as Edward IV, Susan Engel as Queen Elizabeth and Ian Holm as Richard III.
Cover of the play script published in 1970.
Bertolt Brecht's theories of dramaturgy were especially influential on The Wars of the Roses.
Peggy Ashcroft in 1962. Ashcroft relished the opportunity to develop the character of Margaret of Anjou over all four plays, and her resulting performance was one of the most lauded aspects of the entire production.
David Warner in 2013. Warner was a relatively unknown actor when he was cast as Henry VI, and his casting was considered a risk by some. However, his subsequent performance received critical acclaim.
Henry VI, Part 2 is a history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591 and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. Whereas Henry VI, Part 1 deals primarily with the loss of England's French territories and the political machinations leading up to the Wars of the Roses, and Henry VI, Part 3 deals with the horrors of that conflict, 2 Henry VI focuses on the King's inability to quell the bickering of his nobles, the death of his trusted adviser Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, the rise of the Duke of York and the inevitability of armed conflict. As such, the play culminates with the opening battle of the War, the First Battle of St Albans (1455).
First page of The second Part of Henry the Sixt, with the death of the Good Duke Humfrey from the First Folio (1623).
The Conjuration by John Opie (1792)
A Lithograph depicting Act I Scene IV
Title page from the 1550 edition of Edward Hall's The Union of the Two Noble and Illustre Families of Lancaster and York.