2. Now that we’re back in London, what continues to strike you about the Henry VI play? What do you feel was important about that performance?

The most striking thing about the performance of Shakespeare’s Henry VI is that there were no winners and only losers, standing as a striking reminder of what it is to partake in war- that eventually it trickles down to brother against brother. There is no winner in civil war when what you are fighting is yourself, aided by the constant switch in sides during the duration of the play. It showed the internal struggle to identify an enemy because by betraying and hating those you love it feels like the only thing being fought is oneself, causing self inflicted pain in their place. It also shadowed the words of Liam O’Flaherty about the Irish civil war in “The Sniper” perfectly embodying the same sentiments showing that being blinded from seeing one’s humanity can mean that the real enemy is oneself, when the man shot by the sniper is his own brother.