Before Nell and After Agincourt

I Know Thee Not

Before Nell and After Agincourt

by Peter Mottley

Crooked Billets Theatre Company at the Theatre at the Tabard, Chiswick until 31^st August

Review by Andrew Lawston

With its enormous battles, rousing patriotic speeches, and labyrinthine Fifteenth Century European politics, Henry V is among Shakespeare’s most celebrated plays, and is endlessly quoted by people who haven’t seen it.  Before Nell and After Agincourt, a brace of dramatic monologues by Peter Mottley that effectively bookend the events of Shakespeare’s historical opus, seeks to introduce a fresh perspective by focusing on two of the supporting characters, Nell Quickly and Pistol.

“It’s not easy being a woman,” a Boy Actor tells us as he shaves his chest backstage before the premiere of Henry V, preparing to play Nell Quickly, “especially when you aren’t one.”  Felix Uff plays the young actor, with a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he gleefully regales the audience with tales of debauchery from Elizabethan England’s theatrical community, and moans about the quality of the lines he’s had while playing female characters.

Playing against a bare black stage decorated by little more than a costume rack and a wooden table, Uff commands the audience’s attention throughout an emotional account of his own life story, drawing out the parallels between the Boy Actor, his mother, and Nell Quickly.  What begins as light comedy about “Master Shakespeare” giving him acting tips, and more advice from the great Richard Burbage, becomes a charged and often harrowing account of life in Elizabethan London.  From his surrogate father who finds himself press-ganged into the Royal Navy for three years, to the matter of fact story of his mother prostituting herself in their tavern while the boy was forced to serve ale in the bar and listen to the drinkers compare their experiences, Uff pulls no punches in his delivery.  That the whole piece is performed as he very slowly dons Nell’s costume, and talks about her character’s fate, adds an extra layer of pathos.

“It’s not easy being a woman,” the Boy Actor repeats as he prepares to make his entrance, “how much harder will it be to be a man?”  He recalls his mother’s lover Lemuel, who returned from war only to discover the Boy Actor’s mother had died, and wonders how Pistol will react to Nell’s death.

After Agincourt follows after the interval, with the stage even more sparse.  Only the table and a small stool remains.  As the lights go up, Pistol stands on the table and toasts the audience with a lusty cry of “God for Harry, England, and Saint George!” before he begins to tell his tale.

Pistol is husband to Nell Quickly, and a former drinking buddy of King Henry V, or Harry, or Hal.  He follows the young monarch on his French campaign with his friends Bardolph and Nym.  Now Pistol has returned to The Bull’s Head in Eastcheap as the sole survivor of his band, and he has a great deal to say on the subject.  The tone is set early on as Pistol refers to the king as a “pompous little prick”.  He blames Harry for the death of Jack Falstaff, Bardolph, Nym, and the Boy.  He stops short of blaming the king for Nell’s death, but does suggest to the audience that it wasn’t just the quality of the ale that brought Harry to The Bull’s Head.

Pistol treats the audience to an account of the events of Henry V, and Agincourt in particular, from his point of view, that of a common soldier.  He heaps scorn on the Rules of War (and uses a particularly strong epithet to describe the Welsh Captain Fluellen, who “fancied himself a military historian”), and gives horribly evocative descriptions of dysentery, and the effects of various weapons on enemy soldiers.

Gareth David Lloyd gives a true tour-de-force performance as he recounts Pistol’s experiences, highlighting Agincourt, but also the incident in which Bardolph and Nym are hanged for stealing from a church.  His comic timing is superb as he switches accents, and pokes gentle fun at some of Shakespeare’s dramatic licence.  Particularly wonderfully, “a little touch of Harry in the night” becomes an extended moan about the young king spending the night before the battle, “wandering around, and waking people up”.  Gareth David Lloyd maintains fierce eye contact with members of the audience throughout his account, provoking laughter and distinct unease by turns.

Pistol eventually describes Agincourt in all its grisly detail, mixing snippets of Shakespeare with historical details of the battle.  You will certainly never picture Agincourt’s famous archers in quite the same way again.  He’s not an entirely reliable narrator, however, claiming that he exacted his revenge on Fluellen in a manner which does not quite tally with the events of the play.

Both plays offer a terrific blend of comedy and drama, and both resonate with today’s society.  Before Nell in its discussion of gender roles, and tales of some distinctly toxic masculinity, and After Agincourt for its brutal depiction of warfare, and the corrupting nature of power.  Both are directed with a confident but apparently light touch by Paul Olding, and the only additions to the two actors’ performances are occasional sound effects to convey the sounds of battle, or the hubbub of a theatre audience.  This minimalist approach to the production allows both actors to shine, and they take full advantage of the opportunity.

This is an inspired double bill of compelling plays, delivered in the intimate space of The Tabard Theatre, and is highly recommended regardless of how familiar you are with the source material!

Andrew Lawston, August 2024

Photography by Charles Flint