As in a theater the eyes of men...and so forth
Okay, so I listened to the BBC Radio 3 version of Richard II, as mentioned in my last post. It's very weird listening to a professional production, given that I've been working on a production for...well, quite a while. But I like it quite a lot (as I might be expected to) -- it's a very well-done production, on the whole. There are a few odd choices, of course, but it's fine radio Shakespeare.
I'll cut this entry, as it'll be rambling...
Sam West, known to some of you as the Most Harperesque Richard II Ever, is quite an impressive Richard -- I love his voice. He conveys a really effective sense of bitterness about the whole thing, and at the same time is really very movingly sorrowful in places (in this respect, the "What must the King do now?" speech stands out, and of course the prison scenes). And really, having tried the part myself, it's sort of refreshing to listen to an actor who doesn't deliver all of Richard's lines as though he were being torn apart with white-hot pincers. ;)
West also bears the distinction of being the only Richard II I've ever heard who cries in a place where I didn't. ;)
Unfortunately, Damian Lewis's Bolingbroke wasn't all that commanding -- indeed, he was downright whiny in places, although he improved a lot starting in 4.1 or thereabouts. They mention specifically in the album notes that most productions don't take into account the fact that, historically, Richard and Bolingbroke were the same age, so I think they were deliberately trying to present him as young, and then "age" him, but it didn't work. Anyway, he didn't come off as a really effective schemer, or even a really effective seizer of opportunities. It may be the first production I've ever encountered in which Richard appears to be managing thorny situations (i.e. 1.1; West actually sounds genuinely commanding there) better than Bolingbroke does...
I really liked Joss Ackland's Gaunt, though, with his magisterial gravely voice -- he is, of course, at his strongest when having it out with Richard (though his Darth Vaderish breathing early in the scene is jarring). I love the punning on his own name, though he doesn't seem to be relishing the macabreness of the whole thing as much as Graham Crowden did playing opposite Fiona Shaw. Ronald Pickup's York is also excellent, oscillating between irascibility and waffliness (okay, I know "waffliness" isn't a word, but it should be). Though it was...well, kind of odd that they didn't really play up the farcical elements of the York Family Follies (5.2-3) as much as they could have. Ah, well. He's still good. ;)
Sophie Okonedo is surprisingly strong as the Queen -- in 3.4, she actually sounds about ready to emasculate the gardener with his own hedge-clippers. ;) Not quite what I expected at all, but it works very well. Although, unfortunately, she cries irritatingly.
Aumerle, in this production (I forget the actor's name), makes Legolas look like the picture of machismo in comparison. This is most notable in the bit with the gages that precedes the deposition scene.
James Laurenson's Northumberland seems to be channeling Lucius Malfoy. It works beautifully.
And it turns out the Duchess of Gloucester who sounds so much like Ro is actually Janet Suzman. Which is interesting, since we watched part of a video of A&C today in which she played Cleopatra.
Random remarks about sundry bits of the production:
1.1 and 1.2 are transposed, mostly -- it opens with Gaunt and the Duchess doing their scene, then Richard and the court come in and do 1.1, and then they leave, and Gaunt and the Duchess finish up. I've seen other productions that open with 1.2, and I don't really like it -- I rather like the curve Shakespeare throws us when it's ordered as written, where you have this whole sticky business over the murder of Gloucester, and then it's revealed after the shouting that Richard was behind the whole thing.
5.3 (the YFF) and 5.4 (Exton) are also transposed (in this production, 5.4 opens with Henry saying "Sir Piers of Exton, we'll hold council at a later time," and then the scene proceeds as written), which I really dislike, as it seems to me important that it's the revelation of the Oxford conspiracy in 5.3 that seals Richard's fate.
I love the vocal reactions of the cast -- the minions murmuring approval for just about everything Richard says in the early scenes, the various moments of people going "Oh, shit" (not in those words, though I thought I heard a "Fuck!" at "The banished Bolingbroke repeals himself!" in 2.2), the outcry when Carlisle calls Bolingbroke "a foul traitor to proud Hereford's king," the reactions when Exton turns up with the coffin at the end (I can't make out what everyone says there, although someone definitely says "Lord protect us!" -- which I think is Carlisle).
Some of the ominous moments in the third act are punctuated by something that sounds eerily like a Nazgul shriek. I have the impression that Bolingbroke arrived in England on a fell beast.
Although I love the crown tug-o-war exchange, I think the creepy soundtrack under it may be a bit much. OTOH, West's delivery of "Ay, no; no, ay" is particularly good.
The scene where Richard says goodbye to the Queen is, I think, the best version of it I've heard, odd-sounding crying notwithstanding. And of course the prison scene is terrific. It's a bit odd that Richard's cell is apparently filled with pebbles. But it's beautifully acted (and I really loved the choice of music -- it's atonal! And the Groom's West Country accent).
That said, in our production, there is no way that Exton is going to say "Now, Richard, you must die!" before getting all stabby. None at all.
They doubled Mowbray and Exton in this production, just like we did! That's neat.
On the whole, a really strong production. It's really even better than it sounds here, but snark is easier to write than effusive praise. Not that I don't dole that out in great wadges, generally... ;)
I'll cut this entry, as it'll be rambling...
Sam West, known to some of you as the Most Harperesque Richard II Ever, is quite an impressive Richard -- I love his voice. He conveys a really effective sense of bitterness about the whole thing, and at the same time is really very movingly sorrowful in places (in this respect, the "What must the King do now?" speech stands out, and of course the prison scenes). And really, having tried the part myself, it's sort of refreshing to listen to an actor who doesn't deliver all of Richard's lines as though he were being torn apart with white-hot pincers. ;)
West also bears the distinction of being the only Richard II I've ever heard who cries in a place where I didn't. ;)
Unfortunately, Damian Lewis's Bolingbroke wasn't all that commanding -- indeed, he was downright whiny in places, although he improved a lot starting in 4.1 or thereabouts. They mention specifically in the album notes that most productions don't take into account the fact that, historically, Richard and Bolingbroke were the same age, so I think they were deliberately trying to present him as young, and then "age" him, but it didn't work. Anyway, he didn't come off as a really effective schemer, or even a really effective seizer of opportunities. It may be the first production I've ever encountered in which Richard appears to be managing thorny situations (i.e. 1.1; West actually sounds genuinely commanding there) better than Bolingbroke does...
I really liked Joss Ackland's Gaunt, though, with his magisterial gravely voice -- he is, of course, at his strongest when having it out with Richard (though his Darth Vaderish breathing early in the scene is jarring). I love the punning on his own name, though he doesn't seem to be relishing the macabreness of the whole thing as much as Graham Crowden did playing opposite Fiona Shaw. Ronald Pickup's York is also excellent, oscillating between irascibility and waffliness (okay, I know "waffliness" isn't a word, but it should be). Though it was...well, kind of odd that they didn't really play up the farcical elements of the York Family Follies (5.2-3) as much as they could have. Ah, well. He's still good. ;)
Sophie Okonedo is surprisingly strong as the Queen -- in 3.4, she actually sounds about ready to emasculate the gardener with his own hedge-clippers. ;) Not quite what I expected at all, but it works very well. Although, unfortunately, she cries irritatingly.
Aumerle, in this production (I forget the actor's name), makes Legolas look like the picture of machismo in comparison. This is most notable in the bit with the gages that precedes the deposition scene.
James Laurenson's Northumberland seems to be channeling Lucius Malfoy. It works beautifully.
And it turns out the Duchess of Gloucester who sounds so much like Ro is actually Janet Suzman. Which is interesting, since we watched part of a video of A&C today in which she played Cleopatra.
Random remarks about sundry bits of the production:
1.1 and 1.2 are transposed, mostly -- it opens with Gaunt and the Duchess doing their scene, then Richard and the court come in and do 1.1, and then they leave, and Gaunt and the Duchess finish up. I've seen other productions that open with 1.2, and I don't really like it -- I rather like the curve Shakespeare throws us when it's ordered as written, where you have this whole sticky business over the murder of Gloucester, and then it's revealed after the shouting that Richard was behind the whole thing.
5.3 (the YFF) and 5.4 (Exton) are also transposed (in this production, 5.4 opens with Henry saying "Sir Piers of Exton, we'll hold council at a later time," and then the scene proceeds as written), which I really dislike, as it seems to me important that it's the revelation of the Oxford conspiracy in 5.3 that seals Richard's fate.
I love the vocal reactions of the cast -- the minions murmuring approval for just about everything Richard says in the early scenes, the various moments of people going "Oh, shit" (not in those words, though I thought I heard a "Fuck!" at "The banished Bolingbroke repeals himself!" in 2.2), the outcry when Carlisle calls Bolingbroke "a foul traitor to proud Hereford's king," the reactions when Exton turns up with the coffin at the end (I can't make out what everyone says there, although someone definitely says "Lord protect us!" -- which I think is Carlisle).
Some of the ominous moments in the third act are punctuated by something that sounds eerily like a Nazgul shriek. I have the impression that Bolingbroke arrived in England on a fell beast.
Although I love the crown tug-o-war exchange, I think the creepy soundtrack under it may be a bit much. OTOH, West's delivery of "Ay, no; no, ay" is particularly good.
The scene where Richard says goodbye to the Queen is, I think, the best version of it I've heard, odd-sounding crying notwithstanding. And of course the prison scene is terrific. It's a bit odd that Richard's cell is apparently filled with pebbles. But it's beautifully acted (and I really loved the choice of music -- it's atonal! And the Groom's West Country accent).
That said, in our production, there is no way that Exton is going to say "Now, Richard, you must die!" before getting all stabby. None at all.
They doubled Mowbray and Exton in this production, just like we did! That's neat.
On the whole, a really strong production. It's really even better than it sounds here, but snark is easier to write than effusive praise. Not that I don't dole that out in great wadges, generally... ;)