Henry IV - Episode 3

Shakespeare's Shadows

featuring interviews with actor Harry Lennix
and University of California, Santa Barbara professor Jim Kearney

After forcefully taking the English throne in the play Richard II, Bolingbroke a.k.a. Henry IV struggles to keep hold of the crown himself. UCSB professor Jim Kearney and actor Harry Lennix (Titus, The Matrix Reloaded, NBC’s The Blacklist) delve into Henry IV’s fraught relationship with his son (the future King Henry V), the stark difference in his leadership style from Richard II's, and the prophecy that keeps Henry IV believing he’s destined to fight a holy war in Jerusalem. Lennix also discusses his film adaptation, H4, that places the text of Henry IV Part 1 and 2 in the experience of modern black America.