Preview the Plays of ‘The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses’
After a long wait, American audiences finally had the chance to see The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses for themselves. The sequel series aired on PBS’ Great Performances in December, 2016
The original The Hollow Crown series adapted four of Shakespeare’s history plays – Richard II, Henry IV Pts. 1 and 2 and Henry V – into a single chronological narrative, with the majority of the relevant actors performing the same roles across all the plays. The three-part sequel takes on the next part of the story, the titular Wars of the Roses, when two families battled for control of England’s throne.
The only really good thing about the unfortunately large gap between the UK and US airdates is that there’s been enough time for a whole new set of promotional materials to be put together, well beyond anything that debuted in front of the series’ British broadcast. This includes individual previews of all three Wars of the Roses installments, which not only give us a bunch of new footage to look at, but feature explanatory voiceovers that may help viewers who aren’t super familiar with the story of the battle between the Lancasters and the Yorks.
