Hans Kesting as Richard III in Kings of War. The epic production is directed by Ivo van Hove, whose 2009 Shakespearean marathon The Roman Tragedies compressed Coriolanus, Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra into a six-hour show. All photographs: Tristram Kenton for the Guardian

Eelco Smits, far right, as Henry VI. The show is designed by Jan Versweyveld, Ivo van Hove’s longtime collaborator and partner.

Ramsey Nasr (Henry V) and Helene Devos (Katharina). In a four-star review, Michael Billington writes: ‘Henry V comes off best in the van Hove treatment. Even if Shakespeare’s language is paraphrased, the production offers a clear picture of a king who undertakes a foreign invasion on a flimsy pretext, threatens the French ambassador down a red telephone and deploys the language of a war-criminal to intimidate the citizens of Harfleur.’

For Michael Billington, the production ‘highlights Shakespeare’s profound understanding of the role of naked power-hunger in the body politic’

Nasr (Henry V) on screen and Kesting (Richard III) seated. In 2015, Lyn Gardner gave the show four stars when it opened in Amsterdam and wrote that ‘live action and video are intercut to superb effect … The camera constantly probes and reveals, offering closeups and revealing what would otherwise go unseen’

For Gardner, Kings of War ‘exists somewhere between a dynastic family soap opera in which the country is carved up over afternoon tea, and a coolly forensic examination of leadership and power’

Eelco Smits as Henry VI and Janni Goslinga as Margareta

Gardner: ‘This stark pageant of deaths and coronations is not the kind of history play that you’ll find performed by the RSC’