Tower of London Hosts Site Specific Richard III

The modern dress production, which is directed by Ben Kidd and features a “moody electro soundscape”, was first performed as a ten-week run the Riverside Studios in early 2010 and has toured extensively since.

The performances see Shakespeare’s play about the final chapter of the War of the Roses presented where the events actually took place. One of the Bard’s most diabolical and manipulative villains, Richard stops at nothing to gain control of England. Seducing and murdering his way to the throne, embittered by his own physical deformities.

Marketing material described the production as “surely one of the most apt site specific pieces in theatrical history” with the Thames-side landmark giving the play its true historical setting.

Richard III is performed by a cast of eight actors who also perform Dario Fo‘s Accidental Death of an Anarchist at Waterloo East Theatre from 5 to 10 April. The company were approached by Fo to perform a new adaptation of the work by John Laskin and Michael Aquilante.

Founded by Neil Sheppeck, the company first toured the piece to mark their tenth anniversary. The updated version remains based on the strange case of anarchist railway worker Giuseppe Pinelli, who was accused of bombing a bank and later “fell” to his death from a fourth floor police station window in 1969.