CHARGE! Agincourt By Back to Back Theatre
Geelong’s world-famous contemporary performance company Back to Back Theatre brings a bold and innovative cinematic interpretation to Shakespeare’s classic play Henry V in a new screen commission.
England’s Henry V arrives at a factory: he sees thousands of French warriors ready to take up arms against his depleted and tired troops. With not much more than stirring words, he leads his people through a battle that represents the tragedy and extremities of war. But beyond the cardboard armour and din of battle – who are these soldiers? If we see them as individuals, what more can we understand about them?
Globally renowned Back to Back Theatre brings its unique vision to Shakespeare’s timeless story of Henry V in Agincourt (named after the play’s pivotal battle), the latest in the company’s expansive body of screen-based works. Directed by Bruce Gladwin, with cinematography from Rhian Hinkley, Agincourt builds on iconic adaptations from cinema history, including Laurence Olivier’s Technicolor take in 1944, Kenneth Branagh’s grittier 1989 effort and Timothée Chalamet’s turn in The King (2019). It is led by the company’s ensemble of actors who identify as having an intellectual disability: Sarah Mainwaring, Simon Laherty, Scott Price, Grace Kenny, Nathan Legg and Jessica Walker, with contributions from over 100 community members, bringing a new perspective to a story we thought we knew.
Back to Back Theatre’s Agincourt is an ACMI Commission, generously supported by Rachel Griffiths and Andrew Taylor.
Banner image: Back to Back Theatre. Agincourt, 2024.
Photo by Jeff Busby.
Featuring immersive sensory elements including:
- Seating with embedded speakers that produce vibrations
- Wall surfaces designed to be touched
Quote from Back to Back Theatre’s Artistic Director, Bruce Gladwin
“Exhibiting CHARGE! Means we get to showcase a screen work shaped by the dedication of many. More than a hundred community members helped make this project with us, and their imagination and effort came together to create a screen work we’re really proud of. We’re excited to share it with audiences nationally and internationally.”
Quote from ACMI Curator Emily Sexton:
"In researching the exhibition, we spent some good time in the Geelong Library, looking through the company’s archive. Through that it became very clear that even though Agincourt does represent some elements that are quite new to the company, there are also many ways in which the work is deeply resonant with the company’s practice– in subject matter, in style and in form. Power dynamics closely examined, precision in design, process and construction plainly revealed, pacing and stillness in performance clearly deployed… these are just some of the hallmarks of Back to Back’s globally renowned practice, and they are also key to creating the powerful impact we witness in Agincourt.”
Images 1-3: Back to Back Theatre. Behind the scenes of Agincourt, 2024.
Photo, Tao Weis.
Back to Back Theatre gratefully acknowledges Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund – an Australian Government Initiative, the Transport Accident Commission TAC, City of Greater Geelong, Deakin University, GDP Industries and Creative Partnerships Australia through its Plus1 Initiative for supporting the project.
Back to Back Theatre is supported by the Australian Government through Creative Australia, its principal arts investment and advisory body, the Victorian Government through Creative Victoria, the City of Greater Geelong and the Anthony Costa Foundation.