BREATH OF KINGS: REBELLION

Richard II and Henry IV Part 1
By William Shakespeare
Conceived and adapted by Graham Abbey
Directed by Weyni Mengesha
Presented by Stratford Festival
Featuring Araya Mengesha, Carly Street, Graham Abbey, Randy Hughson, Sebastien Heins, Stephen Russell, Tom Rooney

Set: Anahita Dehbonehie
Costumes: Yannik Larivee
Lighting: Kimberly Purtell
Sound: Debashis Sinha
Fight Director: John Stead
Stage Manager: Maxwell T. Wilson

Lust for power leads to political turmoil in this fast-paced new distillation of Shakespeare’s epic histories of a nation and its rulers – their lives, their battles and their deaths.

Araya Mengesha as Prince Hal and Mikaela Davies (ensemble) in Breath of Kings: Rebellion directed by Weyni Mengesha for Stratford Festival.

Photography by David Hou.

Members of the Breath of Kings: Rebellion company (Copy)

Breath of Kings: Rebellion

Shakespeare's Richard II and Henry IV Part 1

Directed by Weyni Mengesha

Conceived & Adapted by Graham Abbey, Associate Director of the Stratford Festival

Photography by David Hou

Duke of York and John of Gaunt (Copy)

Randy Hughson (left) as Duke of York and Stephen Russell as John of Gaunt as Breath of Kings: Rebellion. Photography by David Hou.

Breath of Kings: Rebellion at Toronto's Stratford Festival (Copy)

Kate Hennig (left) as The Bishop of Carlisle and Tom Rooney as King Richard II in Breath of Kings: Rebellion. Photography by David Hou.

Breath of Kings: Rebellion

Shakespeare's Richard II and Henry IV Part 1

Directed by Weyni Mengesha

Conceived & Adapted by Graham Abbey, Associate Director of the Stratford Festival

Members of the company at Stratford Festival (Copy)

Breath of Kings: Rebellion

Shakespeare's Richard II and Henry IV Part 1

Directed by Weyni Mengesha

Conceived & Adapted by Graham Abbey, Associate Director of the Stratford Festival

Photography by David Hou

Breath of Kings Rebellion – Weyni Mengesha, Director (Copy)

Graham Abbey as King Henry IV and Irene Poole as Sheriff in Breath of Kings: Rebellion. Photography by David Hou.

Johnathan Sousa as Hotspur in Breath of Kings: Rebellion (Copy)

Breath of Kings: Rebellion as directed by Weyni Mengesha for Stratford Festival 2016

Breath of Kings: Rebellion – On The Run 2016 (Copy)

Johnathan Sousa as Hotspur and Carly Street as Lady Percy in Breath of Kings: Rebellion. Photography by David Hou.

Stratford Festival

Breath of Kings: Rebellion - Richard II and Henry IV Part 1 Directed by Weyni Mengesha (Copy)

From left: Kate Hennig as Mistress Quickly, Geraint Wyn Davies as Sir John Falstaff and Nigel Shawn Williams as Bardolph in Breath of Kings: Rebellion. Photography by David Hou.

Breath of Kings Rebellion – On The Run 2016 (Copy)

Johnathan Sousa as Hotspur in Breath of Kings: Rebellion. Photography by David Hou.

THE REVIEWS

“Masterful distillation”

Capital Critics Circle

Genuinely breathtaking

Toronto Star

“Breath of Kings: Rebellion climaxes in one of the best battles scenes seen at Stratford. First, due to the gender-blind casting that (along with the diverse casting) pervades and enlivens the production, we get a fantastic all-female duel...The main attraction, however, is Hal and Hotspur facing off with both sword and spear – cold and hot fronts colliding into a thunderous storm that made me nearly fall off my chair.”

The Globe and Mail

“Epic and exciting”

Broadway Entertainment

“Bars and Measures’ strikes the right notes. The play proves intense, and leaves one with a lot to chew over, but its spare direction by Weyni Mengesha lets all these topics shine with a specific clarity.”

San Gabriel Valley Tribune

BREATH OF KINGS: REBELLION

Lust for power leads to political turmoil in this fast-paced new distillation of Shakespeare’s epic histories of a nation and its rulers – their lives, their battles and their deaths.

THE REVIEWS

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