In Conversation with Robert Johnson | The breath of Kings

In today's Backstage Blog, we spoke to Robert Johnson, Artistic Director of Burning House, who are bringing the five-hour Elizabethan Epic The Breath of Kings to the Theatre Works stage later this month.

Shakespeare's Henry 6 plays are one of the great undiscovered gems of Western Literature. An intoxicating mix of violence, politics and romance, this civil war is as machiavellian as Succession and as brutal as Game of Thrones. Henry 6 is a rare thing - a religious pacifist in a time of war and his wife the opposite - a ferocious mother willing to destroy an entire country to protect those she loves. But family and country are going to unravel, and a gleefully malicious Richard of Gloucester is waiting in the wings to take advantage of this chaos. The Breath of Kings is a rare chance to see these plays in all their glory. Burning House will bring their unique blend of ambition and insight to a repertoire season of the Henry 6 plays and Richard 3, with more adventurous audience members able to watch all plays in a massive five hour long event on weekends. This is theatre at its most ambitious and exciting - and for those of you missing big, festival epics The Breath of Kings is here to deliver.

Q: A 5 hour onstage epic! What an exciting challenge to bring to the stage. How has the process unfolded to this point?

It's been such a blast. From a behind the scenes point of view it's basically trying to put on two plays at the same time. No magical formula, just more blood and more sweat. But what has been surprising and quite lovely is the depth of connection we're achieving as an ensemble. We've all been working together for months now and rehearsals have become something quite special. Many, many scenes have over ten people involved at the same time and we've worked really hard to make the focus of rehearsal on creating space for the ensemble to bounce off each other. In a play about civil war it's been really beautiful - we have a core cast of around twenty all interacting and bouncing off each other to really bring a world to life.

Q: What led you to choosing these works - here, now, in cycle with each other and for a theatre works audience?

I've always really seen the works as one work. Henry 6 Part Two and Part Three were not called that when they opened - this only happened when all of his plays were organised to be published after his death. And they were such a big hit in his time that he wrote a prequel (Part One) which was performed afterwards, and a sequel (Richard 3). So I really see it as getting to stage The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers and The Return of the King all together. For those worried about Henry 6 Part One it has less to do the story than Richard - it's very much The Hobbit of this analogy. The plays themselves are beautiful - stunning, sweeping snapshots of a country tearing itself to bits. It starts off as a decadent country in rot - its politicians squabbling and ineffectual, with room for charismatic, populist leaders to take charge. It examines the real responsibility of power, but also the cost of violence. It's a good play to remind one of their civic responsibility, but also insists on a life that can be full of love and joy and spirit even amidst violence. I also really wanted to do something just ambitious - something that took real bravery and skill just to prove that I could, and also to share something of such scale with Melbourne - I always love big long durational events and we need more of them here.

Q: I love asking this one because creatives always have such different perspectives on the matter - what role do you think Shakespeare staged in 2025 plays in our independent theatre scene?

I think he'd be so excited by the literacy of our audience - we can jump between genre and setting and theme so eruditely. Shakespeare was always the one pushing the edges of this when he was writing. I think we'd find him on the real cutting edge of contemporary dramaturgies. I think he'd be initially delighted with the concept of a director, but I think his humanistic spirit would seek to find whats beyond. I think the most important thing he would give us though, and this would be equally radical, is his understanding of what theatre is at its core and his insistence on it being front and centre. The Globe (and other of his theatres) was such an accomplished piece of humanist technology - the transaction between actor and audience as the central, conscious and muscular heart of the work. I think we would find him working in found spaces, in regional areas, doing his best to find a way of working that really centres the audience as the heart of the piece.

Q: What will surprise audiences about this work?

A weird response from me - but one I find quite beautiful despite its smallness: the amount of details we've been able to find about people's day to day lives. In a play full of kings, queens, lords and warriors (and many, many politicians). Because it's in the round (maybe a nice surprise in and of itself) and it's such an ensemble piece, there's been a real freedom in the room for us to really try to create life. Everyone in the court has very clear designated jobs that they work on as the scene goes on, a lot of effort has gone in to fleshing out the tiny nuances of each relationship and there's so many little details to add some humanity to the parade of people whose lives are torn apart by civil war. I find something moving in watching this character play Age of Empires at work for example, knowing he's going to march to war in the next scene, or see a character I know is going to be beheaded later in the play out for their morning run with a friend. It's a play that is stuffed full of life, which is a far cry from the pageantry of war that it can sometimes be interpreted as.  On that note, I think audiences' will be surprised by just how much is crammed into the play - its political drama, court romance, war play, comedy and tragedy all rolled into one sweeping epic that never loses sight of its main characters' humanity.

I also think the thing the audience will be surprised about is themselves - their ability and appetite for long work. I hope (and I have a lot of faith) that there will be something very special about the community that is built between actors and audience as we tell our story. The staging itself enforces this - there'll be some seats if you want them, but mainly audiences will be invited to stand, similar to the Globe of old. The relationship between actor and audience should feel very tangible. For those afraid of interactive theatre though breathe a sigh of relief - the actors might look at you, and maybe even guide you around the set, but you won't be asked to speak - though the occasional boo or cheer would be quite fun.

Q: What has been the most memorable moment in the process so far?

About five weeks into the process we were rehearsing a scene that happens pretty early on in Henry Six Part Two. Richard of York believes (and does) have a legal claim to the throne, and is figuring out how to get the crown off poor King Henry. He has invited over his cousin (Salisbury) and his nephew (Warwick) to win them to his side. On paper the scene comes off as a bit dry. It's just the three of them, and the majority of the scene is York listing a rather long genealogy proving his right to rule. When it came to rehearsal however, we were staging the play as part of The Breath of Kings - which meant York has four sons (Edward, the famous Richard, Clarence and Rutland) and Warwick has a daughter (Lady Anne). None of these characters appear in Henry Six Part Two (and traditionally we don't see Anne until Richard 3), but we knew our audience would be getting to know them all so we put them in the scene. It was so much fun. Suddenly this verbose, dense, almost academic scene into a vibrant display of family life. We get to see the three generations on display - Salisbury as the elder statesmen and head of the Neville clan, York and Warwick as fellow veterans from the wars in France and the five kids failing to behave at family dinner. The genealogy becomes a family lesson with the kids chiming in. We see York's pride and drive in how he's educated his sons. We see Edward's utter faith in his father as he machine guns out the correct names to his family lineage whilst Richard deliberately gets them wrong and yells out cuss words to try to impress a teenage Anne. It makes the collective play so much more powerful to see all of them at this point in their lives, and the tragedy feels so keen - all eight of them will end the play dead. For me it was the moment in rehearsal when the play really came together - big, vibrant scenes that are overflowing with life and drama underscore the humanity of the entire project.

---

Playing at Theatre Works October 25 - November 8, The Breath of Kings will be presented in three alternating versions - Henry 6 (2h 30m), Richard 3 (2h 30m) or Both Plays (5 hours).

Click here to get your tickets!