My kingdom for a horse!
Those of you who are Shakespearically inclined will want to listen Radio 3's production of Richard III. I especially recommend it for DSP members, as it's very good radio Shakespeare.
A few comments on the production:
I have to admit to not, initially, being that impressed with Douglas Henshall's Richard -- he comes off as being so humorless! He doesn't seem to be having any fun with the opening speech or even the "Was ever woman in this humor wooed" soliloquy, which is a great pity. But his angry Richard really takes off later on, and he's also good at being highly creepy.
The women in the cast are particularly strong, particularly Anastasia Hilley as Elizabeth; the scene where Richard tries to persuade her to allow him to marry her daughter was superb. I also liked Jasmine Hyde's Lady Anne and Geraldine James' Duchess of York (sort of odd to hear her, as I'd just seen her yesterday in The Sins on BBC America -- a good miniseries, incidentally), and Barbara Jeffords was great as old Queen Margaret.
Was struck by the effective use of whispering in the production, which is particularly striking on radio -- Margaret's asides, the ghost scene, Richard suborning the murder of the princes. This last was spectacularly creepy. *shudders* One of those things you can't really do onstage.
I rather liked that Edward IV was played as young and decrepit rather than old and decrepit as he often is in productions I've seen.
Fans of Kenneth Branagh films will note the presence of Branagh coterie member Michael Maloney (the Dauphin in Henry V, Laertes in Hamlet) as Clarence. Does a good job of it, too, meaning I wasn't unduly plagued by the image of him freaking out over "Norman BASTARDS!" the whole time he was on. ;)
And a final thought, in re: the ghost scene -- it was really quite chilling, but the mood was spoiled, a bit, when one of the ghosts whispered "Dream on...dream on..." and I had unpleasant but very funny images of Richard being haunted by a spectral Steven Tyler. Scary, yes, but not in the right way.
A few comments on the production:
I have to admit to not, initially, being that impressed with Douglas Henshall's Richard -- he comes off as being so humorless! He doesn't seem to be having any fun with the opening speech or even the "Was ever woman in this humor wooed" soliloquy, which is a great pity. But his angry Richard really takes off later on, and he's also good at being highly creepy.
The women in the cast are particularly strong, particularly Anastasia Hilley as Elizabeth; the scene where Richard tries to persuade her to allow him to marry her daughter was superb. I also liked Jasmine Hyde's Lady Anne and Geraldine James' Duchess of York (sort of odd to hear her, as I'd just seen her yesterday in The Sins on BBC America -- a good miniseries, incidentally), and Barbara Jeffords was great as old Queen Margaret.
Was struck by the effective use of whispering in the production, which is particularly striking on radio -- Margaret's asides, the ghost scene, Richard suborning the murder of the princes. This last was spectacularly creepy. *shudders* One of those things you can't really do onstage.
I rather liked that Edward IV was played as young and decrepit rather than old and decrepit as he often is in productions I've seen.
Fans of Kenneth Branagh films will note the presence of Branagh coterie member Michael Maloney (the Dauphin in Henry V, Laertes in Hamlet) as Clarence. Does a good job of it, too, meaning I wasn't unduly plagued by the image of him freaking out over "Norman BASTARDS!" the whole time he was on. ;)
And a final thought, in re: the ghost scene -- it was really quite chilling, but the mood was spoiled, a bit, when one of the ghosts whispered "Dream on...dream on..." and I had unpleasant but very funny images of Richard being haunted by a spectral Steven Tyler. Scary, yes, but not in the right way.