Richard III

Synopsis

Or by its full first quarto title of The Tragedy of King Richard the Third, containing his trecherous plots against his brother Clarence: the pittiful murder of his innocent nephews: his tyrannical usurpation: with the whole course of his detested life and most deserved death. Of course, nowadays Richard is seen as much maligned but the image of the hunchback reciting "Now is the winter of our discontent" will remain with us for a long time. Essentially the plot sees Richard assuming the throne after Edward IV and disposing of all those with greater right. He is finally killed at the Battle of Bosworth Field after having pronounced that other great line "A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!" (shouldn't that be "An horse!"?).

Our Review:

Simon Tavener - 18 April 2012

The first time I saw Richard III was the now iconic National Theatre production with Ian McKellan. I remember the experience vividly – and recall very clearly that I left the theatre unable to speak because of the theatrical brilliance that I had encountered.

I have to admit that this, the third production of the play that I have seen in Stratford, may not live in my memory quite so long but it still ranks as a high quality version of, perhaps, my favourite of all the plays of Shakespeare.

Roxanna Silbert’s production is direct, clear and lucid. A judicious cutting of the script allows the action to move at a reasonable pace.  (The current running time is three hours 15 minutes – for those worried about making the last train.)  However, there is a slight unevenness in tone in certain scenes which tends to slightly disturb the atmosphere – but that may just come down to how different audiences react to a particu...

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Latest User Review

Linda Borg-Olivier - 23 July 2012:

Jonjo O'Neill had me entranced. What a consummate performance! My only criticism of the play was the modern dress, otherwise an exceptionally enjoyable evening. More Jonjo O'Neill please!...

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