Richard II, dir. Michael Boyd, at the Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon
I'm prefacing this with the admission that I don't actually know Richard II that well; most of my work has been on the other tetralogy. So some of the things I noticed might be completely obvious to people who know the play better than I do. Also, it's entirely possible that I might forget to mention things, so let me know if I miss something important.
First of all, the Courtyard Theatre is weird. It's huge and very industrial with a thrust stage that looks like it's made entirely out of rusted metal. Oddly enough, it still worked with the quasi-Elizabethan costumes.
The play opened with a highly choreographed court entrance from upstage, led by Bagot (Forbes Masson, who doubled as the Marshal). They did very interesting things with Bagot in general. Anyway, Richard (Jonathan Slinger) came in from the audience in what, on first glance, looked like a white-and-gold dress (it was actually a robe). We knew from the publicity photos that they were making the Elizabeth connection fairly literal, but even his movements were very feminised. As the court moved forward to greet him, they revealed the bloody body of Thomas of Woodstock (Chuk Iwuji) lying on the ground. Richard rather tellingly stepped over him to reach the dais. A bit obvious for people who knew the play, I imagine, but it did establish a lot within a few minutes.
Richard, as I said, was in white and gold, and so was Queen Isabel (Hannah Barrie). Their costumes actually echoed each other very well. The favourites and Mowbray (John Mackay) were all in bright colours and the later conspirators were a bit more muted. John of Gaunt (Roger Watkins) and York (Richard Cordery) looked more medieval, for lack of a better word. Henry (Clive Wood), in contrast, was in all black and wearing a leather trenchcoat that I think he stole from Keanu Reeves. He also had a haircut that made him look more than a little like Keifer Sutherland. I wonder how intentional that was.
The short scene between the Duchess of Gloucester (Katy Stephens) and Gaunt also featured zombie!Woodstock glowering in Gaunt's general direction. Points to the Duchess for making a lot out of a very small role. And I turned out to be right in my suspicion that the actress is the same one who plays Margaret in Henry VI and Richard III.
Zombie!Woodstock's final appearance was in the duel scene, where he literally looked as though he was holding up Richard's dais. They did a good job with this scene, which could too easily have descended into silliness. For the horses, they had these bizarre metal things suspended from the ceiling, and Henry and Mowbray nearly slammed into one another before Richard stopped them. Also, very interesting interplay between Henry and Richard just beforehand (although I think I've been infected by angevin2). So much bitterness between Gaunt and Richard after he exiles Henry -- it was chilling, really.
The subtext was more or less ürtext as far as Richard, Bushy, Bagot, and Green were concerned. I'm not sure what they were supposed to be doing in 1.4 but it looked like they were hanging out in a boat. Maybe. Aumerle got a few laughs during that scene and Richard was downright catty.
Gaunt's death was quite effective. He had a curious sort of optimism while he was with York, but you could literally see it draining out of him during the 'This England' speech. When Richard did enter, he was wearing the most fabulous pink shoes ever and flouncing around the stage like...well...a drag queen. Which he sort of was, even though he wasn't wearing a dress in this scene. Jonathan Slinger did a fantastic job in his transformation from prissy bitchiness in these early scenes to absolutely heartbreaking dignity in the second half. York was curious in this scene; he played the 180° turns in his speeches fairly straight and it worked, and you really felt sorry for him by the end and really wanted to kick Richard.
Northumberland (Keith Bartlett) looked like Christopher Lee. It was a bit disconcerting sometimes. He and Vernon were visually aligned with Henry, wearing black by this point.
2.2 was very strangely charged, between the three favourites and Isabel. There was definitely some kind of subtext, although I couldn't quite narrow it down -- they were definitely going for the 'Richard is totally sleeping with his favourites' angle, but it was subtly done. I suspect they were trying to depict Isabel as very young and naïve and not precisely sure what her husband was up to. This scene was also highly choreographed and looked like it was supposed to be a dancing lesson of some sort. Vaguely creepy too.
Hotspur's entrance was hilarious. He was...well...he was perfectly Hotspur. Never walking when he could run, throwing himself around the stage, etc. Later costume choices were also telling -- he basically perfectly mimicked Henry's outfit, right down to the Matrix coat. Wonder if he's going to try to take the throne later?
Everyone laughed at the 'trusty Welshman' line. Also making fun of Gloucestershire.
When Henry accused Busy and Green of 'sinful hours' with Richard, we all believed them. And in a very cringeworthy moment, when he was talking about Isabel crying, he pulled off Green's earring. Lots of blood. Ouch.
The last scene before the interval was 3.2 and it was the first time Richard took off his crown during the play. There was a visible change in the way Slinger played the scene. Obviously he started off confident, then went into an absolute snit at the line about Bushy and Green making 'peace' with Henry. Then a complete change at the 'sit upon the ground' speech, which was very understated and really well done, I thought. You could literally see the wheels turning in Richard's head, and the moment where he realised exactly how big a mess he was in.
The same actor who played Gaunt (and in the same costume, curiously enough) also played one of the gardeners.
The Deposition scene was utter brilliance. It began with an orgy of glove-throwing between Henry's followers, and a Speech of Massive Foreshadowing by the Bishop of Carlisle, who delivered it from a balcony. Lots of doom and destruction, etc, that Henry completely ignored. Despite the play's title, it really is just as much about Henry as Richard and there was so much intensity between the two of them (even though Richard totally owned the scene, as well he should). In the end, he practically tossed the crown at Henry, and the audience was completely with him. angevin2, he did wipe off the Elizabethan makeup and throw away the red wig, although not when I expected. It was right before the mirror was brought in.
At the end of the scene, Richard was left standing centre stage under a shower of sand (I'm not describing it very well, but the effect was gorgeous and creepy and horribly depressing all at once). The dialogue between him and Isabel also began under the sand and, in spite of the fact that they'd barely interacted before, it was incredibly effective.
Poor York. He looked so exhausted by the end of the play, as well he should at this point. The Aumerle débâcle was actually played for laughs and worked really well. A nice and surprisingly lighthearted moment so close to the end.
Richard's final soliloquy was magnificent. He looked as though he'd been beaten up repeatedly, poor guy. He obviously learnt something from this mess, but far too late. In an echo of the earlier scene with Isabel and the favourites, when he heard music, they literally lowered a spinet from the ceiling, but this time it was played by a man in a creepy white mask. Who turned out to be Bagot, who ended up killing Richard, and it was absolutely devastating. That gave his final speech a whole new twist. Lots and lots and lots of blood. And he literally had to drag Richard's body all the way around the stage as the audience cringed.
The final scene had Henry (in a white coat, interestingly) sitting on the dais, surrounded by piles of severed heads. Bagot entered with Richard's body in a coffin and he looked like a man in hell. Really well-played. And Henry looked seriously disturbed by the whole thing -- as well he should. The play ended with Henry kneeling by Richard's body (still surrounded by severed heads) as Northumberland and Hotspur refuse to do as he says and mourn.
The music was minimal but very effective. What really impressed me was how they managed to keep such a high level of tension going throughout the play when it really is all talk and very little action. There was just a general sense that everything was right on the edge of going horribly wrong. Which is essentially what all the history plays are about, so definitely a good thing.
As I said last night, it was a fantastic production all round, and I'm thrilled that I got the chance to see it.
First of all, the Courtyard Theatre is weird. It's huge and very industrial with a thrust stage that looks like it's made entirely out of rusted metal. Oddly enough, it still worked with the quasi-Elizabethan costumes.
The play opened with a highly choreographed court entrance from upstage, led by Bagot (Forbes Masson, who doubled as the Marshal). They did very interesting things with Bagot in general. Anyway, Richard (Jonathan Slinger) came in from the audience in what, on first glance, looked like a white-and-gold dress (it was actually a robe). We knew from the publicity photos that they were making the Elizabeth connection fairly literal, but even his movements were very feminised. As the court moved forward to greet him, they revealed the bloody body of Thomas of Woodstock (Chuk Iwuji) lying on the ground. Richard rather tellingly stepped over him to reach the dais. A bit obvious for people who knew the play, I imagine, but it did establish a lot within a few minutes.
Richard, as I said, was in white and gold, and so was Queen Isabel (Hannah Barrie). Their costumes actually echoed each other very well. The favourites and Mowbray (John Mackay) were all in bright colours and the later conspirators were a bit more muted. John of Gaunt (Roger Watkins) and York (Richard Cordery) looked more medieval, for lack of a better word. Henry (Clive Wood), in contrast, was in all black and wearing a leather trenchcoat that I think he stole from Keanu Reeves. He also had a haircut that made him look more than a little like Keifer Sutherland. I wonder how intentional that was.
The short scene between the Duchess of Gloucester (Katy Stephens) and Gaunt also featured zombie!Woodstock glowering in Gaunt's general direction. Points to the Duchess for making a lot out of a very small role. And I turned out to be right in my suspicion that the actress is the same one who plays Margaret in Henry VI and Richard III.
Zombie!Woodstock's final appearance was in the duel scene, where he literally looked as though he was holding up Richard's dais. They did a good job with this scene, which could too easily have descended into silliness. For the horses, they had these bizarre metal things suspended from the ceiling, and Henry and Mowbray nearly slammed into one another before Richard stopped them. Also, very interesting interplay between Henry and Richard just beforehand (although I think I've been infected by angevin2). So much bitterness between Gaunt and Richard after he exiles Henry -- it was chilling, really.
The subtext was more or less ürtext as far as Richard, Bushy, Bagot, and Green were concerned. I'm not sure what they were supposed to be doing in 1.4 but it looked like they were hanging out in a boat. Maybe. Aumerle got a few laughs during that scene and Richard was downright catty.
Gaunt's death was quite effective. He had a curious sort of optimism while he was with York, but you could literally see it draining out of him during the 'This England' speech. When Richard did enter, he was wearing the most fabulous pink shoes ever and flouncing around the stage like...well...a drag queen. Which he sort of was, even though he wasn't wearing a dress in this scene. Jonathan Slinger did a fantastic job in his transformation from prissy bitchiness in these early scenes to absolutely heartbreaking dignity in the second half. York was curious in this scene; he played the 180° turns in his speeches fairly straight and it worked, and you really felt sorry for him by the end and really wanted to kick Richard.
Northumberland (Keith Bartlett) looked like Christopher Lee. It was a bit disconcerting sometimes. He and Vernon were visually aligned with Henry, wearing black by this point.
2.2 was very strangely charged, between the three favourites and Isabel. There was definitely some kind of subtext, although I couldn't quite narrow it down -- they were definitely going for the 'Richard is totally sleeping with his favourites' angle, but it was subtly done. I suspect they were trying to depict Isabel as very young and naïve and not precisely sure what her husband was up to. This scene was also highly choreographed and looked like it was supposed to be a dancing lesson of some sort. Vaguely creepy too.
Hotspur's entrance was hilarious. He was...well...he was perfectly Hotspur. Never walking when he could run, throwing himself around the stage, etc. Later costume choices were also telling -- he basically perfectly mimicked Henry's outfit, right down to the Matrix coat. Wonder if he's going to try to take the throne later?
Everyone laughed at the 'trusty Welshman' line. Also making fun of Gloucestershire.
When Henry accused Busy and Green of 'sinful hours' with Richard, we all believed them. And in a very cringeworthy moment, when he was talking about Isabel crying, he pulled off Green's earring. Lots of blood. Ouch.
The last scene before the interval was 3.2 and it was the first time Richard took off his crown during the play. There was a visible change in the way Slinger played the scene. Obviously he started off confident, then went into an absolute snit at the line about Bushy and Green making 'peace' with Henry. Then a complete change at the 'sit upon the ground' speech, which was very understated and really well done, I thought. You could literally see the wheels turning in Richard's head, and the moment where he realised exactly how big a mess he was in.
The same actor who played Gaunt (and in the same costume, curiously enough) also played one of the gardeners.
The Deposition scene was utter brilliance. It began with an orgy of glove-throwing between Henry's followers, and a Speech of Massive Foreshadowing by the Bishop of Carlisle, who delivered it from a balcony. Lots of doom and destruction, etc, that Henry completely ignored. Despite the play's title, it really is just as much about Henry as Richard and there was so much intensity between the two of them (even though Richard totally owned the scene, as well he should). In the end, he practically tossed the crown at Henry, and the audience was completely with him. angevin2, he did wipe off the Elizabethan makeup and throw away the red wig, although not when I expected. It was right before the mirror was brought in.
At the end of the scene, Richard was left standing centre stage under a shower of sand (I'm not describing it very well, but the effect was gorgeous and creepy and horribly depressing all at once). The dialogue between him and Isabel also began under the sand and, in spite of the fact that they'd barely interacted before, it was incredibly effective.
Poor York. He looked so exhausted by the end of the play, as well he should at this point. The Aumerle débâcle was actually played for laughs and worked really well. A nice and surprisingly lighthearted moment so close to the end.
Richard's final soliloquy was magnificent. He looked as though he'd been beaten up repeatedly, poor guy. He obviously learnt something from this mess, but far too late. In an echo of the earlier scene with Isabel and the favourites, when he heard music, they literally lowered a spinet from the ceiling, but this time it was played by a man in a creepy white mask. Who turned out to be Bagot, who ended up killing Richard, and it was absolutely devastating. That gave his final speech a whole new twist. Lots and lots and lots of blood. And he literally had to drag Richard's body all the way around the stage as the audience cringed.
The final scene had Henry (in a white coat, interestingly) sitting on the dais, surrounded by piles of severed heads. Bagot entered with Richard's body in a coffin and he looked like a man in hell. Really well-played. And Henry looked seriously disturbed by the whole thing -- as well he should. The play ended with Henry kneeling by Richard's body (still surrounded by severed heads) as Northumberland and Hotspur refuse to do as he says and mourn.
The music was minimal but very effective. What really impressed me was how they managed to keep such a high level of tension going throughout the play when it really is all talk and very little action. There was just a general sense that everything was right on the edge of going horribly wrong. Which is essentially what all the history plays are about, so definitely a good thing.
As I said last night, it was a fantastic production all round, and I'm thrilled that I got the chance to see it.