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:

20 March 2002

It was two years ago - when Kenneth Branagh was being interviewed by film critic Barry Norman about Love's Labour's Lost - that I heard the actor declare the only role he still yearned to play was Richard III.

But it took Sheffield Crucible and now Donmar Warehouse director Michael Grandage to put the Shakespeare aficionado back on the stage after a 10-year gap. And what a return it is. The 1,000-capacity Crucible sold out the entire run months ago and opening night had that special buzz of anticipation about it that's, sadly, a rare commodity.

From the moment Branagh utters the familiar "Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer" opening, clad only in a pair of briefs, lying on his back strapped to a contraption which looks like a cross between a rack and a traction unit, we are reminded exactly why he was hailed the new Olivier umpteen years ago.

For this may be Shakespeare's play, it may be Grandage's pro...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 4 May 2002:

I was blown away by this production. Some very unique ideas from Michael Grandage, and a brilliant performance from Kenneth Branagh....

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