Stephen Warbeck is currently recording his score for the upcoming BBC adaptation of William Shakespeare’s play Henry IV. The television production is directed by Richard Eyre (Notes on a Scandal, Iris) and stars Jeremy Irons in the title role, as well as Tom Hiddleston as Prince Hal and Simon Russell Beale as Falstaff. Sam Mendes (American Beauty), Neal Street Production’s Pippa Harris (Starter for Ten) and NBC Universal’s Gareth Neame (Downtown Abbey) are executive producing and Rupert Ryle-Hodges (Cranford) is co-producing the project. Warbeck has previously scored the Eyre’s drama The Other Man starring Laura Linney and Antonio Banderas. Henry IV is one of BBC’s three new adaptations of Shakespeare’s second historical tetralogy and will be premiering in two parts this summer in the UK to coincide with the 2012 Cultural Olympiad – the largest celebration of culture in the history of the modern Olympics and Paralympics.
The other films in the series by the same producer team include Richard II directed by Rupert Goold (Macbeth) and starring Ben Whishaw in the title role, alongside Patrick Stewart, Jame Purefoy, Clemence Poesy, David Suchet, Rory Kinnear and David Morrissey. The film’s music is composed by Adam Cork (Macbeth). The final film in the series, Henry V, is helmed by theatre director Thea Sharrock and stars Hiddleston and Russell Beale who are reprising their roles from Henry IV. The composer of the last part is Adrian Johnston (Becoming Jane).
Stephen Warbeck is also scoring the upcoming TV film Walking the Dogs. The comedy is directed by Jeremy Brock (Driving Lessons, screenwriter of The Last Kings of Scotland) and stars Emma Thompson, Eddie Marsan and Russell Tovey. The film is set to premiere as part of Skyarts’s Playhouse series next year. The other upcoming projects of the Academy Award-winning composer (Shakespeare in Love) include the documentary Down to Earth directed by Rolf Winters and Behrooz Paknahad’s He Who Said No (Doomsday). He has also already recorded the music for the upcoming romantic comedy drama Day of the Flowers directed by John Roberts (Paulie) and the British comedy drama Papadopoulos & Sons written and directed by Marcus Markou and starring Stephen Dillane. Check out a track from the score for the latter project below and visit the official movie website to learn more about the film.
