RICHARD III, RSC
RICHARD III: William Shakespeare
RSC Main House: Stratford Upon Avon
Tkts: 0870 609 1110
Runs: 3h 20m, one interval
Review: Rod Dungate, 23 July 2003-07-24
Theatrical, quirky: you'll take it or leave it I'd recommend taking it and relishing it
This is a high octane, mighty quirky, showy, rumbustious, no-holds-barred production that works if you swing with it. Frankly, as far as I'm concerned, you can pile as much of the above into a production as you like, as long as it's done with intelligence and there's oodles of that in director Sean Holmes's sure-handed work.
RICHARD III is a relatively early Shakespeare play and his writing both for characters and for staging is, well, stagy. What Holmes and his team have achieved it to ratchet up all aspects of the production to celebrate the staginess with great delight. The chosen Victorian setting, the frequent use of a red front curtain, drive home the dramatic nature of the story while never falling into cod melodrama. Frequent use of Adrian Lee's music adds a feeling of epic story-telling. Farce, horror (horror movie at times!), Greek tragedy, music hall merge into a satisfying whole.
Two figures help in welding the play together Henry Goodman (an extraordinary and mercurial performance as Richard III) and Sheila Reid (Queen Margaret).
Richard is a gift of a part to an actor and Goodman knows it and knows how to make the most of it. He can easefully make us laugh stepping on executed Hastings's head ('Ooops', accidentally-on-purpose): he can terrify us with his unpredictability the force with which he calls for Hastings's execution, a man temporarily out of control. Wooing Lady Anne at the opening of the play we may secretly admire his audacity: as he negotiates for the young Elizabeth's hand at the conclusion we believe that by this time Richard truly believes his own insane arguments.
Goodman powerfully combines qualities of a dictator childlike, unpredictable petulance and a virtual stranglehold on power. We don't have to look for very long around the world today to see mirror images.
Maureen Beattie (Queen Elizabeth) really comes into her own in her final confrontation with Richard. Throughout the play Beattie gives Elizabeth great dignity and power. In this Act IV scene she and Goodman, acting out their head-on collision, transcend anything that has gone before. Their combined power shakes the auditorium.
In this play Shakespeare is giving us a picture of a sick country, brought to its death bed by the Wars of the Roses. Nowhere could this be clearer than when three of the play's women meet Queen Margaret, Queen Elizabeth, Duchess of York. At times the scene is like a litany of the dead each accusing each other. Slight Sheila Reid is made huge by her emotion she seems to act twenty feet above the stage. Her closing quiet instructions to Elizabeth on how to curse chill us to the bone with fear and with anger at the pointless loss 'Forbear to sleep the nights and fast the days . . .'
Best seats for 10 pounds are available for some August performances - see our news item.
Richard III: Henry Goodman
George, Duke of Clarence: Ian Gelder
Brakenbury: Bradley Freegard
Hastings: Michael Hadley
Catesby: John Lloyd Fillingham
Lady Anne: Lisa Stevenson
Henry VI: Andrew Macbean
Rivers: John Killoran
Grey: David Peart
Dorset: Javone Prince
Queen Elizabeth: Maureen Beattie
Buckingham: Malcolm Sinclair
Stanley: James Hayes
Queen Margaret: Sheila Reid
First Murderer: Tom Anderson
Second Murderer: Fergus O'Donnell
Keeper: Rob Wynn
Edward IV David Fielder
Ratcliffe: John Lightbody
Clarence's Son: Rob Wynn
Clarence's Daughter: Daisy Hughes/ Isabella James
Duchess of York: Cherry Morris
First Citizen: Lynsey Beauchamp
Second Citizen: Shereen Ibrahim
Archbishop: Andrew Macbean
Duke of York: Ben Woods/ William Day-Brosnan
Prince Edward: Jack Chamberlain/ Thomas Spackman
Lord Mayor: David Peart
Bishop of Ely: Tom Anderson
Christopher Urswick: Toby Dantzic
Vaughan: Christopher Harvey
Page: David Jowett/ Jack Snell
Scrivener: Fergus O'Donnell
Tyrell: Toby Dantzic
Richmond: Bradley Freegard
Oxford: Tom Anderson
Blunt: Fergus O'Donnell
Surrey: Rob Wynn
Norfolk: David Fielder
Director: Sean Holmes
Designer: Anthony Lambie
Lighting: Tim Mitchell
Music Composed by: Adrian Lee
Sound: Martin Slavin
Fights: Terry King
Music Director: Jeremy Holland-Smith
Movement: Michael Ashcroft
Company Voice Work: Jeanette Nelson/ Andrew Wade
Assistant Director: Ellie Jones
2003-07-24 11:26:23