Act V scene 6 - Windsor Castle
Flourish. Enter HENRY BOLINGBROKE, DUKE OF YORK, and HENRY PERCY
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Can no man tell of my unthrifty Son?
'Tis full three months since I did see him last.
If any plague hang over us, 'tis he;
I would to God, my Lords, he might be found:
Inquire at London, 'mongst the Taverns there: 5
For there, they say, he daily doth frequent,
With unrestrained loose Companions,
Even such, they say, as stand in narrow Lanes,
And beat our Watch, and rob our passengers,
Which he, young wanton and effeminate Boy, 10
Takes on the point of Honor, to support
So dissolute a crew.
HENRY PERCY
My Lord, some two days since I saw the Prince,
And told him of those Triumphs held at Oxford.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
And what said the Gallant? 15
HENRY PERCY
His answer was, he would unto the Stews,
And from the common'st creature pluck a Glove,
And wear it as a favour, and with that
He would unhorse the lustiest Challenger.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
As dissolute as desperate; yet through both 20
I see some sparks of better hope: which elder years
May happily bring forth.
Enter NORTHUMBERLAND
Welcome my Lord: What is the news?
NORTHUMBERLAND
First, to thy Sacred State wish I all happiness:
The next news is, I have to London sent 25
The heads of Oxford, Salisbury, Blunt, and Kent:
The manner of their taking may appear
At large discoursed in this paper here.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
We thank thee, gentle Percy, for thy pains,
And to thy worth will add right worthy gains. 30
Enter LORD FITZWATER
LORD FITZWATER
My Lord, I have from Oxford sent to London
The heads of Brocas and Sir Bennet Seely,
Two of the dangerous consorted Traitors
That sought at Oxford thy dire overthrow.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Thy pains, Fitzwater, shall not be forgot; 35
Right noble is thy merit, well I wot.
Enter BAGOT, with persons bearing a coffin
BAGOT
Great King, within this Coffin I present
Thy buried fear. Herein all breathless lies
The mightiest of thy greatest enemies,
Richard of Bordeaux, by me hither brought. 40
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Bagot, I thank thee not, for thou hast wrought
A deed of Slaughter, with thy fatal hand,
Upon my head and all this famous Land.
BAGOT
From your own mouth, my Lord, did I this deed.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
They love not poison that do poison need, 45
Nor do I thee: though I did wish him dead,
I hate the Murderer, love him murdered.
The guilt of conscience take thou for thy labor,
But neither my good word, nor Princely favor.
With Cain go wander through the shade of night, 50
And never show thy head by day nor light.
Lords, I protest my soul is full of woe,
That blood should sprinkle me to make me grow.
Come, mourn with me, for that I do lament,
And put on sullen Black incontinent: 55
I'll make a voyage to the Holy Land,
To wash this blood off from my guilty hand.
March sadly after, grace my mourning here,
In weeping after this untimely Bier.
Exeunt
The goal was to have almost no transition; as Bagot finished speaking, the screens, bench, and bodies would be carried away and a sheet brought out to cover Richard. The lights dim DS and focus shifts US as Henry enters complaining of his son, that rapscallion Prince Hal.
Henry was perched on the center platform with the throne, while Percy lounged on the upper stairs (mirroring Richard and Aumerle's pose from the first scene).
Percy enjoys getting other people into trouble just a little too much.
Northumberland entered from under the tall platform. Having fully broken from Henry at this point, she refrained from approaching him and instead pulled out her phone and texted him "this paper here."
Totally oblivious, Fitzwater entered from under the same platform, flush with victory and unaware of the tension between Henry and Northie.
Bagot, present for the full scene, merely turned and took two steps towards the others to join the conversation, with lights aiding the shift.
Henry descended from the center platform, approaching the covered body and Bagot.
As Henry realized the ramifications of Bagot's actions, he grabbed Bagot, then shoved him hard. Bagot stumbled offstage SL, disgraced.
Henry approached the body as he mourned Richard's death; he knelt, reaching as though to touch the body, but at the last was unable to do so. He stood, traveling back towards CS and putting distance between himself and the corpse, unable to fully cope with the grief, relief, and guilt.