Shakespeare's Henry VI is the original miniseries blockbuster, say Mark Quartley and Minnie Gale, who play Henry VI and his wife Margaret in the current RSC two-part production

It was such a safe room, directors Greg and Owen [Doran and Horsley] run such a safe space. And the company was really generous of spirit. So it felt really safe. I thought I would feel exposed but actually, it just felt wonderful to be back in a rehearsal room.

Mark: It’s funny how that stuff infects the room, but we were in Stratford-upon-Avon in this beautiful town in summer, in the Ashcroft Room [the one above the Swan] the most beautiful rehearsal room in the country, overlooking the church, and with a lovely bunch of people finally being in a rehearsal working on Shakespeare, which that company was super passionate about. Even though the plays themselves are set in the Hundred Years’ War, there was a real joy to be in that room.

And now you’re preparing to walk onstage with the plays, how does that feel?

Minnie: I haven’t walked onto the stage since I was in a production that closed because of the pandemic in early March 2020, and today was the first time I went onstage since then. And it was actually quite an overwhelmingly nice feeling. I forgot how incredible the RST is. I can’t believe that it’s 1,000-seater because it just feels so intimate.

Mark: It lends itself so well to that thing that Shakespeare does with loads of characters … The direct address and the anticipation that we have right now of being able to speak to people and confide in them and explain things to them with these beautiful words is just thrilling. I can’t wait.

The plays are quite a complicated span English history. Why should we care about these stories? How would you sell it to a potential audience?

Minnie: I don’t know what it’s like from the outside because it’s so involving to be inside. The bits that I have seen are shocking, beautiful, true and terrifying and sad and wonderful.

Mark: … and surprising. They are thrilling plays. Once the cogs start turning, the wheels just fall off and the thing hurtles at this incredible pace, which kind of knocks you for six. They are extraordinary plays and if they weren’t such a long, epic, sort of historical trail, then they would be done all the time. But I appreciate the reason they aren’t probably is because they require a massive cast.

God, I mean, Part 2 has the largest cast list of any Shakespeare play. And really you need to see the story through: you want to get to Richard II, having done Henry VI Part 3 because you start to see the genesis of that tyrant – if I can call him that, though Arthur Hughes who’s playing might have other ideas. But, yes, the plays just kind take your breath away.

Minnie: They are so exquisitely crafted and you had to have such an enormous arc to unravel. So it’s kind of like being in a miniseries. There are loads of characters and they all have their own intricate relationships.

And the arc of them is so huge, so you kind of have that luxury that you do in a miniseries where you’ve got this long slow burn story, and all the intricacies that go with it. And it’s like Mark said, it’s that moment where the wheels come off...

And you get glimpses of each character, what motivates them and where their Achilles heel is, what their flaw is, where their weakness is and what riles them. And it’s often their flaws that drive them towards destroying their own moral compass. There’s a tipping point: where does somebody go from being civil to committing acts of murder? Often it comes out of personal weaknesses.

I think Shakespeare just knows people so well. You just see the seeds of those things begin and then by Wars of the Roses, you’ve just got total carnage. And it’s sort of a bit ‘there but for the grace of God...’, it’s the type of thing where you go, ‘wow, we can so easily just tumble into something horrific’.

Mark: The only thing I add is that our production feels extremely filmic. You’re never allowed to sit back in your seat. Before you know it, someone’s head has been chopped off and the Kingdom has changed hands; it’s like it’s unbelievable how fast these things happen.

Minnie: I’m thinking of so many selling points now. I think one of the other reasons to see it is because the plays don’t get done much; and they’re exquisite: there’s some absolutely incredible humans and idiosyncratic moments.

The rigour that you need as an actor and as a company to pull them off is massive. I feel really privileged to be part of that. It’s a real journey. It’s quite rare to get such a company of real grafters and we can’t wait to get into the world of it now.

You’re going to see something unfolding in front of your eyes; a lot of people genuinely don’t know what happens next, and they are like thrillers.

What’s the look and feel of the play?

Mark: We are in mediaeval costume, so period – and it’s such a privilege to get into the costumes because the department here are just out of this world. They have thrown the full power of the department behind these productions. But also there are what you might call anachronistic little touches. So we’re using lots of light projection, live video streaming in the show. The full depth of the stage is being used so it’s quite epic in scale.

Do your characters change much through the course of the plays?

Mark: The short answer is yes, they change enormously, and their relationship was just so complex and fascinating. They are just sensational characters to play.

I don’t think either of us have made any concrete decisions yet. We’re still finding things all the way. But it’s whenever you get to play roles like this, you just relish the different colours that Shakespeare gives you. I mean, they’re just full.

I would say Henry has a stigma attached to him. People view him as this sort of weak pious king who lost two kingdoms but actually the Henry that Shakespeare writes is not that, he has so many different colours to him and I can’t wait to share that.

Minnie: I think this is like the biggest ride I’ve ever been on as an actor. Margaret has infinite variety, to borrow Cleopatra’s tagline. It’s like we ran both plays together for the first time, and if you think of the whole arc that you’re going to go on as that character your mind will explode.

You just have to enter into each scene... John Barton used to describe playing Shakespeare like beads on a necklace, that each scene can be its own kind of gem. And if you try to make too much sense of how they’re strung together that way madness lies... especially if you thought about everything you’re going to go through on stage. It’s kind of like your journey is so big that when you think back to the first scene of Rebellion, by the time you get to the end of part three, you’re like, well, I’m a completely different person!

And I think Henry and Margaret feel like they’re always the most aligned when they’re the furthest apart. That there lies the tragedy. They seem kind of chalk and cheese but somehow they’re the same coin.

Mark: It’s interesting that your language at the end of the play starts to mirror Henry’s.

So the way it works some days you’ll be performing both parts – how are you going to cope with that?

Mark: It’s called the Dirty Duck isn’t it? Part of the thrill of doing this production is that there will be double days so we can share both plays with the same audience. The full course of this story is just quite breath-taking. So I’m personally really excited about that. Although yes, it is going to take a real toll.

Is the Dirty Duck still popular with actors?

Mark: Yeah, it’s part of history – going in there and seeing a picture of Richard Burton on the wall.

Minnie: Having the promise of this part has kept me going, with times being so uncertain. They’re so incredible these parts and it’s been a dream job for me.

I’ve also had a baby, so I was ten weeks pregnant when this started so it’s quite nice to say them out loud because it feels like it’s quite an unprecedented thing, as far as I know. Other people probably have done it, but it might not have been known.

I was pregnant in Henry VI Part 1. So I had a bump and a broad sword. And I thought that I couldn’t make the job work and hats off to the RSC because really they just ran straight towards me going ‘what do you need?’ How do we make this work? So it’s been quite an epic journey for me, off stage as well as on.

I thought that was worth saying because, you know, I think it’s important that people know about those things happening because it just really paves the way for other women and men to survive.

It also encourages directors and producers to trust we can do this. I’ve never felt more creative than since the birth of my baby girl, who is now four months.

The situation in Ukraine must have had an effect on what you’re doing – presumably that is something you discuss?

Mark: Yes of course you can’t avoid it. You feel simultaneously like the plays have great worth because they discuss the nature of power and the horrors of war; but also that we’re just doing a play – and there are more important things happening in the world.

What I would say as well is that I feel Henry is a massively underestimated and extraordinary man. He is a man who, more than anything else, seeks out peace and I hope that is a conversation that we are looking towards more and more and perhaps might be a reason to listen to the Henrys of the world.

Because the war of these plays is seductive as well as grotesque, so yes it of course it gives that flavour. But it’s difficult because we are doing something passionate that we love and we’re aware that there are horrible things happening not too far away.

Minnie: The plays were programmed pre-pandemic. And it just so happens that it it’s got this resonance now.

Mark: It means you can’t just rest back and say, oh, this is just a fun thing, some make-believe. Battles like this really do happen.

Rebellion and Wars of the Roses are on at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre from tomorrow (1st April). To book tickets visit www.rsc.org.uk