Henry VI: Part I, II and III are some of Shakespeare’s greatest but most challenging history plays. Lasting about nine hours in performance, Henry VI is a long affair that requires some stamina and determination. They are plays of complexity but fantastic, meaty language and some incredible speeches – if you are auditioning for drama schools or look to brush up your Shakespeare, I highly recommend you dig into these plays. However, the meatiness of the words, the many intrigues, the endless wars overlapping each other and frequent subplots make the plays a bit of a mouthful for theatregoers not fully rehearsed in the Bard.

This is where Phil Willmott’s shorter version, a compression of the Wars of the Roses, claims its glory. Focusing mainly on Henry VI: Part III, the three plays have been plastered together to provide us with a background story leading up to the events of the last play. The three plays were never meant to be performed in order, but Willmott’s version makes it much easier to understand the many levels and ideas presented in Henry VI: Part III without frying our brains.

King Henry V dies and leaves his ill-prepared, young son Henry VI to rule Britain. Fighting to adjust to the life of a king, Henry is caught in the feud between the Duchess of York and Duke of Lancaster that ends in war. Married to Margaret, Henry is influenced on all sides and doesn’t manage to prevent a brutal civil war in which the cruelty of Richard III awakens.

HVI: Play of Thrones cleverly uses the hit series Game of Thrones (if you haven’t guessed yet) as a way of selling the idea of Shakespeare to a generation not as familiar with going to the theatre. This shorter version is also a godsend for drama students getting their teeth into Shakespeare’s darker side, with great speeches from Queen Margaret and a thrilling prequel to the tragedy of Richard III. The play gets off to a slow start, and some performances are slightly pushed and unclear, but hats off to Willmott’s editing and clear direction of text. Though it’s a long night, we know it’s necessary for things to kick off and, once the second half is shot off, boy does it kick into the high gear we’ve waited for. The pace is electrifying and the simplicity of the set – consisting of only metal ladders – proves incredibly powerful, as they are shifted and thrown about the tiny stage in fierce battle and commotion. The torture scene is spot on in both performance, direction and design and feels like the essence of not only the time, but also the brutality of Game of Thrones.

Paul Adeyefa plays Henry VI with clarity and richness and inhabits the character with intensity and nuance. He captures his frail nature and wandering mind, and creates a king we can all sympathise with. Emma Kelly’s Queen Margaret has fire and gut and plays the manipulation brilliantly, with a great match in Gavin Kerr’s Duke of Suffolk.

As the play builds and the house of York invades, cruelty blossoms as a young Richard is introduced, a forewarning of what’s yet to come. We here meet a Richard with childish cruelty, the unpolished figure of the tyrant of the future. Michael Keane’s performance is thrilling and demands an engagement from his audience that’s almost forceful: we are drawn to him, and it’s quite impossible not to be enchanted by his Richard – cunning, perversely cold and intelligent. Keane connects with the heart of Richard’s humour, pain and wrath and it’s not just in his eyes, but the whole essence of his being on stage that is so alarmingly alluring. It’s a powerful performance that will stick with you long after you leave.

HVI: Play of Thrones is, despite its dry moments, a great way into Shakespeare’s history plays without locking yourself in the library for a week. It’s not quite Game of Thrones but, as David Lister wrote in The Independent: “In the cause of selling Shakespeare and maybe changing lives, do whatever it takes”. And he’s quite right. The series might not be directly snatched from Shakespeare, but Play of Thrones shows the essence of a time of brutality where people were ready to do whatever it took to seize the throne and rule. There might be no dragons or Emilia Clarke, but they’ve got heads rolling and that should stir your appetite. If the Union Theatre, Willmott and Keane teamed up next for Richard III, I’d be the first in the queue for a ticket.

HVI: Play of Thrones is playing at The Union Theatre until 24 January. For more information and tickets, see the the Union Theatre website.