User:SyntaxZombie/Notes: The Prince (play)

• In the published script, Thorn forbids productions of the play with an all-white cast and prescribes that Hotspur, Jen, and Sam always be played by trans women. In a later interview, however, Thorn expressed openness towards productions where Sam and Jen are played by non-binary or transmasculine actors.

Notes on characters, cast, and creative team.

Characters

• Hotspur (she/her): Thorn describes Hotspur as "a trans woman so deep in the closet she doesn't even know it yet."
• Jen: She/her
• Sam: She/her
• Lady Kate: She/her
• Prince Hal: He/him
• Northumberland: He/him
• King Henry IV: He/him
• Worcester: He/him
• Douglas: He/him

Cast

• Abigail Thorn (Hotspur): She/her
• Tianna Arnold (Lady Kate): They/them
• Joni Ayton-Kent (Sam): She/her
• Mary Malone (Jen): She/her
• Ché Walker (Northumberland/King Henry IV): He/him
• Corey Montague Sholay (Prince Hal): He/him
• Richard Rees (Worcester): He/him
• Tyler Luke Cunningham (Douglass): He/him

Creative team

• Natasha Rickman (Director): She/her
• Donnacadh O'Briain (Dramaturg): He/him

There are other people on the creative team with pronouns identified in the script, but I don't foresee them being mentioned in the main article

Long Summary

Act I

Scene I

The play begins with King Henry IV reciting the opening lines of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1 in which he considers launching a crusade to the Holy Land. An advisor (Sam) then tells him of the still-ongoing Battle of Holmedon Hill and of Hotspur's heroism there. The King says that he is envious of Northumberland, Hotstspur's father, for having such a brave son while his own son, Prince Hal, brings him dishonor. Concurrently, Hotspur mocks Prince Hal for his ineptitude in battle and derisively calls him a woman. King Henry IV decides not to pursue a crusade so as to pay attention to the ongoing domestic conflict.

Scene II

Jen, a background character in the previous scene, anxiously tells Sam, the King's advisor in the previous scene, that she doesn't know what is happening and didn't understand the Shakespeare-inspired dialogue of the previous scene. Sam comforts Jen, but when she asks Jen her name, Jen dissociatively answers that she is Brutus' wife Portia and begins to recite lines from Act II, Scene 1 of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar. Sam is eventually able to convince Jen that she is not an Ancient Roman by showing her a modern Diet Coke bottle, which Jen recognizes. The two introduce themselves, but before Sam is able to explain the situation, the scene changes and the two must once again pretend to be characters in Henry IV, Part 1.

Scene III

Back at the Battle of Holmedon Hill, while Hotspur is looking for her sword in the marsh, Northumberland and Worcester arrive to announce their victory over the Scots. Northumberland praises Hotspur's courage and compares her to Hercules. Hotspur learns that allies have captured her enemy Douglass, attempts to behead him to avenge her brother but is stopped by Prince Hal, who has received instructions to take Douglass as a prisoner of war. Hotspur also learns that her brother-in-law, Edmund Mortimer, has been taken prisoner by the Welsh rebels. Hotspur and Prince Hal agree to ask the King to pay Mortimer's ransom and Hotspur decides to look for her lost sword in the marsh, ordering Jen to help. Hotspur explains that the sword was a gift from her father on the occasion of her coming-of-age. Jen eventually finds the sword, and after some small talk, Hotspur offers to shake Jen's hand. But when their hands meet, Hotspur is suddenly transported to next scene.

Scene IV

Hotspur, disoriented, realizes she has apparently been recounting the battle to her wife, Lady Kate. Hotspur is confused, but brushes it off before announcing that she must leave for London. Before leaving, Hotspur flirts briefly, but awkwardly, with Lady Kate. Lady Kate laments Hotspur's frequent travels and the two part ways.

Scene V

Sam explains to Jen that they are trapped inside a multiverse of Shakespeare's plays and recounts traveling through several plays trying to escape back to the real world. She explains that she encountered Jen in Julius Ceasar and implies that she decided to rescue Jen because they are both transgender women. Sam also shows Jen a magical map she stole from Prospero in The Tempest which allows her to navigate the Shakespearean multiverse. She explains that at the end of Henry IV, Part 1, an exit will appear and they will be able to escape. When Jen asks about rescuing other characters, Hotspur in particular, Sam tells Jen to leave them, saying that they are "antibodies."

Scene VI

Henry IV refuses to ransom Hotspur’s brother-in-law. Prince Hal intimates to Hotspur that the King is angry because Prince Hal is gay. The Prince, secretly in love with Hotspur, suggests that she stay in London to improve his father’s mood and ask him to ransom Hotspur’s brother-in-law again, but Hotspur rebuffs him. Hotspur then asks Jen to bring in her father, but recognizes her from Holmedon. She tells Jen to shake her hand, but though both are expecting to be catapulted into another scene, they are not. Instead, Hotspur becomes aware of evidence that she is inside a play: First, she notices that her father and the King look exactly alike (they are played by the same actor), then she notices the audience. Finally, finds that she is briefly unable to understand the Shakespearean dialogue between her father and her uncle. When her uncle puts his hand on her shoulder, Hotspur regains her understanding of the dialogue and the three of them agree to join forces with the Scottish and Welsh rebels to dethrone King Henry IV.

Scene VII

Jen, expressing interest in the plot, asks Sam if the play has a happy ending. Sam dodges the question and King Henry IV directs the pair to leave so he can lecture Prince Hal. Jen attempts to intervene, but Prince Hal asks her not to. Nevertheless appreciative of Jen's efforts, Prince Hal offers to shake Jen's hand in gratitude and, when she does, he too is unsettled from his Shakespearean character: after King Henry IV berates Prince Hal and enviously compares him to Hotspur, Prince Hal laments his father's homophobia in a modern-English soliloquy.

Scene VIII

During the scene change, Jen becomes separated from Sam and hides while Douglass and Hotspur make an alliance. Then, Lady Kate argues with Hotspur, asking why she has been so distant, physically and emotionally. Kate exclaims "I must know, Harry, else though love'st me not!" In anger, Hotspur replies "Away, away, you trifler! Love! I love thee not." After Hotspur leaves, Lady Kate confides in Jen about her marital struggles. She tells Jen that as the only child of older parents, she was educated in preparation for inheriting her family's wealth. Unexpectedly, though, her parents had a son and Lady Kate, no longer their heir apparent, married Hotspur.

Scene IX

...

Scene X

...

Act II

Scene I

The cast find themselves in Hamlet, rather than Henry IV, Part 1.

Scene II

Sam confesses that she was trapped playing a more minor character in Antony and Cleopatra and for a longer time than she had previously said. Jen apologises and the two agree to make their way back to Henry IV, Part 1. Hotspur recites "To be, or not to be."

Scene III

Back in Henry IV, Part 1, Lady Kate brings Hotspur her sword in preparation for the Battle of Shrewsbury. Still confused by the earlier metatheatre, Lady Kate asks what is happening, but Hotspur tells her that it was just a dream and that she should return home. When she balks at this explanation, Hotspur yells at her that a woman's place is to obey the commands of her husband.

Scene IV

After Lady Kate leaves angrily, Hotspur's uncle informs her that King Henry IV and Prince Hal have unexpectedly arrived to fight in person and that her father is sick and cannot join the battle. Though Hotspur's uncle advises against it, Hotspur decides to press on.

Scene V

The rebels meet King Henry IV and Prince Hal at Shrewsbury and air their grievances with the crown. Prince Hal offers to fight Hotspur in single combat to spare their armies, but Hotspur refuses and the battle commences.

Scene VI

Sam and Jen make their way through the battle to find the exit. As Hotspur hunts down Prince Hal, the exit appears and Jen tries to convince Hotspur to come with them. Sam leaves the play, but Hotspur does not want to leave and Jen stays, promising to help Hotspur when the play restarts. Hotspur and Prince Hal fight, but when Hotspur is mortally wounded, she does not recite the lines that Prince Hal expects her to and dies unheroically.

Scene VII

Once again at the beginning of the play, Hotspur, King Henry IV, Prince Hal, and Douglass play their respective parts, but hesitantly, and slip in and out of their original lines. When King Henry IV eventually asks "where are we?" Jen greets them and helps them escape.

Scene VIII

Sam and Jen reunite awkwardly and Jen gives Sam the magical map. Jen invites Sam to join her for lunch with some friends, but Sam declines. Jen then meets with Hotspur, who is dressed as a trans woman, as well as Hal and Kate.