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:

John Campbell - 20 February 2013

This spring Bristol’s Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory company is presenting a contrasting pair of Shakespeare’s earliest dramas: Richard III and Two Gentlemen of Verona. First off is Richard III presented in traditional dress in a lucid and powerful production directed by Andrew Hilton with John Mackay in the title role.

Mackay’s Richard is first-rate. He captures his love of dissembling, his will to power, his desire to control others. He is convincing as seducer, plotter and fighter. He looks unnerving with his peroxide blond crew-cut and his withered arm, uneven gait and his cold dead eyes. Too many Richards play to the gallery and go for easy laughs. There are witty line readings (and, I thought, the occasional odd emphasis) but this production mercifully doesn’t overdo the comedy; this Richard is a black magician sending his family to their deaths. The production makes clear that the violence of the play i...

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