Act II scene 3 - the Wilds in Gloucestershire
Enter HENRY BOLINGBROKE and NORTHUMBERLAND, with Forces
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
How far is it, my Lord, to Berkeley now?
NORTHUMBERLAND
Believe me, noble Lord,
I am a stranger here in Gloucestershire;
These high wild hills, and rough uneven ways,
Draws out our miles, and makes them wearisome: 5
And yet our fair discourse hath been as sugar,
Making the hard way sweet and delectable:
But I bethink me what a weary way
From Ravenspurgh to Cotswold will be found,
In Ross and Fitzwater, wanting your company, 10
Which I protest hath very much beguiled
The tediousness and process of my travel.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Of much less value is my Company
Than your good words: but who comes here?
Enter HENRY PERCY
NORTHUMBERLAND
It is my Son, young Harry Percy,
Sent from my Brother Worcester: Whencesoever.
Harry, how fares your Uncle?
HENRY PERCY
I had thought, my Lord, to have learn'd his health of you.
NORTHUMBERLAND
Why, is he not with the Queen?
HENRY PERCY
No, my good Lord, he hath forsook the Court, 20
Broken his Staff of Office, and dispersed
The Household of the King.
NORTHUMBERLAND
What was his reason?
He was not so resolved when we last spake together.
HENRY PERCY
Because your Lordship was proclaimed Traitor.
But he, my Lord, is gone to Ravenspurgh, 25
To offer service to the Duke of Hereford,
And sent me over by Berkeley, to discover
What power the Duke of York had levied there,
Then with direction to repair to Ravenspurgh.
NORTHUMBERLAND
Have you forgot the Duke of Hereford, Boy? 30
HENRY PERCY
No, my good Lord; for that is not forgot
Which ne'er I did remember: to my knowledge,
I never in my life did look on him.
NORTHUMBERLAND
Then learn to know him now: this is the Duke.
HENRY PERCY
My gracious Lord, I tender you my service, 35
Such as it is, being tender, raw, and young,
Which elder days shall ripen, and confirm
To more approved service, and desert.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
I thank thee gentle Percy, and be sure
I count myself in nothing else so happy, 40
As in a Soul remembering my good Friends:
And as my Fortune ripens with thy Love,
It shall be still thy true Love's recompense;
My Heart this Covenant makes, my Hand thus seals it.
NORTHUMBERLAND
How far is it to Berkeley? and what stir 45
Keeps good old York there, with his Men of War?
HENRY PERCY
There stands the Castle, by yond tuft of Trees,
Mann'd with three hundred men, as I have heard,
And in it are the Lords of York, Berkeley, and Seymour,
None else of Name, and noble estimate. 50
Enter LORD ROSS and LORD FITZWATER
NORTHUMBERLAND
Here come the Lords of Ross and Fitzwater,
Bloody with spurring, fiery-red with haste.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Welcome my Lords. I wot your love pursues
A banish'd Traitor; all my Treasury
Is yet but unfelt thanks, which more enrich'd, 55
Shall be your love, and labor's recompense.
LORD ROSS
Your presence makes us rich, most Noble Lord.
LORD FITZWATER
And far surmounts our labor to attain it.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Evermore thanks, th’Exchequer of the poor;
Which, till my infant fortune comes to years, 60
Stands for my Bounty: but who comes here?
Enter LORD BERKELEY
NORTHUMBERLAND
It is my Lord of Berkeley, as I guess.
LORD BERKELEY
My Lord of Hereford, my Message is to you.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
My Lord, my Answer is to Lancaster;
LORD BERKELEY
Mistake me not, my Lord, 'tis not my meaning 65
To raze one Title of your Honor out.
To you, my Lord, I come, what Lord you will,
From the most glorious of this Land,
The Duke of York, to know what pricks you on
To take advantage of the absent time, 70
And fright our Native Peace with self-born Arms.
Enter DUKE OF YORK attended
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
I shall not need transport my words by you,
Here comes his Grace in Person. My Noble Uncle.
Kneels
DUKE OF YORK
Show me thy humble heart, and not thy knee,
Whose duty is deceiveable, and false. 75
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
My gracious Uncle--
DUKE OF YORK
Tut, tut!
Grace me no Grace, nor Uncle me no Uncle,
I am no Traitor's Uncle; and that word 'Grace.'
In an ungracious mouth, is but profane.
Why have those banish'd and forbidden Legs 80
Dared once to touch a Dust of England's Ground?
But more then 'why,' why have they dared to march
So many miles upon her peaceful Bosom,
Frighting her pale-faced Villages with War,
And ostentation of despised Arms? 85
Comest thou because th’anointed King is hence?
Why foolish Boy, the King is left behind,
And in my loyal Bosom lies his power.
Were I but now the Lord of such hot youth,
As when brave Gaunt, thy Father, and myself 90
Rescued the Black Prince, that young Mars of men,
From forth the Ranks of many thousand French:
Oh then should this arm of mine chastise thee
And minister correction to thy Fault.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
My gracious Uncle, let me know my Fault, 95
On what Condition stands it, and wherein?
DUKE OF YORK
Even in Condition of the worst degree,
In gross Rebellion, and detested Treason:
Thou art a banish'd man, and here art come
Before th’expiration of thy time, 100
In braving Arms against thy Sovereign.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
As I was banish'd, I was banish'd Hereford;
But as I come, I come for Lancaster.
And Noble Uncle, I beseech your Grace
Look on my Wrongs with an indifferent eye: 105
You are my Father, for methinks in you
I see old Gaunt alive. Oh then my Father,
Will you permit that I shall stand condemn'd
A wandering Vagabond; my Rights and Royalties
Pluck'd from my arms perforce, and given away 110
To upstart Unthrifts? Wherefore was I born?
If that my Cousin King be King of England,
It must be granted I am Duke of Lancaster.
You have a Son, Aumerle, my Noble Kinsman;
Had you first died, and he been thus trod down, 115
He should have found his Uncle Gaunt a Father,
To rouse his Wrongs, and chase them to the bay.
I am denied to sue my Livery here,
And yet my Letters Patents give me leave:
What would you have me do? I am a Subject, 120
And challenge Law: Attorneys are denied me;
And therefore,personally I lay my claim
To my Inheritance of free Descent.
NORTHUMBERLAND
The Noble Duke hath been too much abused.
LORD ROSS
It stands your Grace upon to do him right. 125
LORD FITZWATER
Base men by his endowments are made great.
DUKE OF YORK
My Lords of England, let me tell you this:
I have had feeling of my Cousin's Wrongs
And laboured all I could to do him right;
But in this kind, to come in braving Arms, 130
Be his own Carver, and cut out his way,
To find out Right with Wrongs, it may not be;
And you that do abet him in this kind
Cherish Rebellion, and are Rebels all.
NORTHUMBERLAND
The Noble Duke hath sworn his coming is 135
But for his own; and for the right of that,
We all have strongly sworn to give him aid,
And let him nev’r see Joy that breaks that Oath.
DUKE OF YORK
Well, well, I see the issue of these Arms;
I cannot mend it, I must needs confess, 140
Because my power is weak, and all ill left:
But if I could, by him that gave me life,
I would attach you all, and make you stoop
Unto the Sovereign Mercy of the King.
But since I cannot, be it known to you 145
I do remain as Neuter. So, fare you well;
Unless you please to enter in the Castle
And there repose you for this Night.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
An offer Uncle, that we will accept:
But we must win your Grace to go with us 150
To Bristol castle, which they say is held
By Bushy, Bagot, and their Complices,
The Caterpillars of the Commonwealth,
Which I have sworn to weed, and pluck away.
DUKE OF YORK
It may be I will go with you: but yet I'll pause, 155
For I am loath to break our Country's Laws:
Nor Friends, nor Foes, to me welcome you are;
Things past redress are now with me past care.
Exeunt
If you've forgotten what the sketch of Northumberland looks like, go back now and review it before reading this scene...
Northumberland, played by Rosalind Blume, was a tiny little spitfire badass. Casting a petite white female opposite a tall, physically imposing, black Henry Bolingbroke was a deliberate choice, demonstrating the heterogeneity that Bolingbroke celebrates and stands for.
When we got to this scene in rehearsals, Northumberland's opening speech seemed to have some very specific undertones that are perhaps not as immediately present when the role is played by a man. The actors immediately picked up on a sexual tension between Bolingbroke and Northumberland, and created a whole subplot wherein Northie was perhaps gunning to be the next Queen (since historically, Bolingbroke was between wives right now). Northie had a very calculated bend to adjust her boot, followed by some very intense flirtation, which made Percy's entrance simply hilarious.
I love the dynamic between Northie and Harry, and even moreso as a mother-son relationship. She could be proud of him and exasperated with him; he was a smart-aleck, but also a damn good fighter who had learned everything he knew from his mother. They made a formidable team.
Drake Pough, playing Bolingbroke, turned these last lines into a fully sequenced handshake. Percy didn't know what was happening but was delighted to be included with the cool kids.
Up until now, everyone has entered and occupied the DSL quadrant of the stage. Berkeley enters on the tall platform, serving as Berkeley Castle.
Berkeley was played by Jessica Patrick, with inspiration taken from Emily Blunt in The Devil Wears Prada. This is a perfectly put-together woman who can cut you with a glance. And Bolingbroke is kind of a dick to her. So she throws it right back at him. The shade was epic.
York enters over the tall platform as well, and Bolingbroke immediately goes into a great show of submission. York cuts straight through the bullshit. You've got to love an uncle who starts off a chastisement with lines 76-78.
The Duke of York made his way down from the top platform down the steps CS until he and Bolingbroke confronted each other DSC. As Bolingbroke countered SR, Northumberland joined him; Ross and Fitzwater joined opposite SL. York felt the danger of his position - that while he cannot move against Richard, these are men who could easily kill him.
York adamantly insists he will remain neutral in the fight, but then extends the familial courtesy of shelter for the night to his nephew. It is the beginning of his conversion to Bolingbroke's cause.
Bolingbroke has been backed into a corner by Richard's seizure of Bolingbroke's inheritance. He constantly reminds everyone present that he is only coming for what is owed him by the laws of the land and nothing more. But if that's true, the timeline is awfully suspicious - when he left France, arriving back in England with a massive army, just when Richard happens to be gone.
As everyone exits back up the center platform to the tall platform, dancers flooded the stage.
Taylor Swift's "Look What You Made Me Do" perfectly encapsulates someone who is being pushed and is all too happy to push back. In this transition, the opposing sides are facing off again, only this time, we see Berkeley and the Welsh Captain switch from Richard's side to Bolingbroke's. Bushy, Bagot, and Green are prevented from entering the conflict by Ross and the Herald, and Bolingbroke's team definitely comes out on top.