The National Theatre had never before staged Shakespeare’s two most admired history plays; it was ten years since Michael Gambon’s last appearance at the Theatre, and five since director Nicholas Hytner had started talking to him about playing Falstaff. The play was for Henry IV Parts 1 and 2 – which Kenneth Tynan called ‘great public plays in which a whole nation is under scrutiny and trial’.

Bella Merlin follows the production from pre-rehearsal planning to opening night, charting the processes that make up two major productions in the Olivier Theatre, and provides a unique insight into the staging of two great Shakespeare plays.