RICHARD III
RICHARD III: William Shakespeare
Shakespeare's Globe: Tkts 020 7401 9919
Runs: 3hrs: one interval: in repertory till 27th Sept
Review: Kim Durham: June 28 2003
All-female production - a rumbustious crowd-pleasing black comedy. Kathryn Hunter grabs hold of the part of Richard with gusto.
Shakespeare's Globe sells itself as a regular theatre, a tourist attraction and as a center for serious performance research. The last function seems to supply the official rationale for this all female production, though the real reason may have more to do with outrage expressed by the half of Equity excluded by this venue's occasional use of all male casts. There are few enough Classical roles for women as it is, runs the complaint.
Apart from a nod in the direction of gender equality, does a Women's Company serve any purpose? On the basis of this production, the answer must be a resounding yes. Do we ever forget that we are watching women playing men? Not for a moment. But that is the point.
Shakespeare's theatre, as he frequently reminds us, is a theatre of the imagination, of symbolic representation. If the acting is good, as by and large here it is, the cross-over casting invites us to enter into a pleasing conspiracy with the company, that adds to rather than detracts from our engagement.
Barry Kyle's production makes this a rumbustious crowd-pleasing black comedy. Kathryn Hunter grabs hold of the part of Richard with gusto. Contorting her body in a way that must make her osteopath wince, she skips about the stage, gleefully demanding our complicity. There's nothing hugely original about playing the psychopathic, mass-murdering, would-be king as cheeky chappie, but Hunter gives a bravura performance of winking mischievousness that occasionally tips over into genuine nastiness.
There is a withering Queen Margaret from Linda Bassett and a robust Buckingham from Amanda Harris, a badly under-rehearsed fight between Richard and Louise Bush's Richmond at the conclusion, compensated for by a joyously uplifting final dance and curtain call by the company.
One tip if your legs and back can take it, the Pit offers the best seats in the House. Despite audiences on three sides and on three levels, much of the playing at Shakespeare's Globe is still directed to the front of the stage.
Richard III: Kathryn Hunter
Queen Margarte/Messenger/Ghost of Henry VI: Linda Bassett
Lord Stanley: Penelope Beaumont
Brackenbury/ Grey/ Richmond: Louise Bush
Duchess of York/ James Blunt: Penelope Dimond
Duke of Buckingham: Amanda Harris
Murderer 2/ Ratcliffe/ Richard, Duke of York: Liza Hayden
Lord Hastings/ Messenger/ Earl of Surrey: Anna Healey
Edward IV/ Bishop of Ely: Liz Kettle
Lady Anne/ Young Elizabeth: Meredith MacNeill
Lord Rivers/ Tyrell/ Scrivener/ Messenger/ Duke of Norfolk: Jules Melvin
Murderer 1/ Catesby: Ann Ogbomo
Jane Shore/ Marquess of Dorset/ Edward, Prince of Wales: Laura Rogers
Clarence/ Executioner/ Lord Mayor/ Brandon: Rachel Sanders
Queen Elizabeth: Yolanda Vasquez
Director: Barry Kyle
Music: Keith McGowan/ Claire van Kampen/ Belinda Sykes
Choreography: Sian Williams
Voice: Stewart Pearce
2003-07-01 08:35:57