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:

24 July 2003

I had a hunch this couldn't be as good as I'd hoped. Henry Goodman turned in one of the definitive Shakespearean performances of our time when he played Shylock in The Merchant of Venice at the National in the 1999, winning an Olivier Award for his efforts. Inevitably, expectations were sky high for his outing now as the dastardly crookback Richard III.

In Sean Holmes' production, the evening begins with a terrific theatrical flourish. Red curtains fall to the stage and a single spotlight picks out a pair of white hands which part the curtains to reveal a top-hatted, besuited Goodman, looking for all the world like a cross between an Edwardian impresario and Burgess Meredith as Batman's nemesis, the Penguin.

Within the opening soliloquy, Goodman dances, darts into the audience and snatches a programme before tearing it to shreds, then leaves the stage to stab a dog and disrobes to reveal his twisted body, even peeling off part of his face to expose...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (194.216.92.2) - 3 October 2003:

The last time I was at Stratford theatre was a school trip to see Macbeth, which we were studying for GCSE - or GCEs as they were then. That was about 40 years ago. It made no great impression on me. Years later, Kenneth Branagh came along and, for me at least, re-invented Shakespeare. He made the Bard deeply interesting, enjoyable, highly watchable and thoroughly rewarding. He inspired me to delve deeper into the plays and find even richer rewards in the magnificent language. Then I started going to other stage productions including Henry V and Lear at the Globe, Twelfth Night at the Donmar, and Antony Sher's Macbeth at the Young Vic. All vibrant, flowing, highly enjoyable productions, which left one yearning for more. So it was time to go back to Stratford, the cradle of Shakespearean stagecraft, home of the renowned RSC. A Saturday night hotel bill, tickets for two, a meal and petrol meant a total bill of some £300. I was sure it would be worth it. Sadly, I was so wrong. Has the RSC learned nothing? Why is it still locked in a mid-20th Century (or earlier) approach to Shakespeare, which involves most of the cast standing stiff as trees on a wide open stage and delivering their lines as though they had just learned them in class and had been told by their teacher to recite them? Why does the rest of the cast just stand there in mute immovable wonder as this process goes on? Where is the fluidity? Where is the movement? Where is the action? I know the words are mostly magnificent, but they are not all there is. Stagecraft is supposed to add to them, not serve as a stillborn anonymous adjunct. The exception was Henry Goodman as Richard III. Whilst there may be unease at his presentation of Richard as something of a clown prince rather than an evil manipulating tyrant, still he was never less than interesting, never static, never boring. And surely it is is time that the wailing and gnashing of teeth approach to Shakespeare, epitomised by the Olivier era, was consigned to the bin? Was it necessary, for example, for Shelia Reed as Queen Margaret to drag out e-v-e-r-e-e-e s-y-l-l-l-l-a-b-l-l-e of e-v-e-r-e-e-e w-o-r-r-r-d as though she was reluctant to let them go? Overall, a huge and boring disappointment. And the seats were SO uncomfortable with such restricted legroom. Perhaps it IS time to demolish this inferior theatre and start again. Can I have my money back please? paterfamilias@fastmail.fm ...

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