by MICHAEL DRAYTON and others in a version by brett USHER with Bernard Hepton as Sir John Oldcastle , the Lord Cobham
Sir John Oldcastle , the model for Shakespeare's Falstaff, was hanged as a traitor in 1417. But after the Reformation he achieved thestatusofa Protestant martyr, and Drayton's history was commissioned as a direct counterblast to Shakespeare's treatment.
Directed by MARTIN JENKINS (R)
