brief, insufficient, and extremely belated thoughts on Tennant's Richard II

[angevin2]

I wrote these for someone I met on tumblr who saw and loved the production but was previously unfamiliar with the play, and thought I might share them because I didn't write a proper review. It's not even that I am lazy or didn't have enough to say; I just loved the production so much and thought it was so close to my perfect production that there

Comments

[browngirl]

This is a really gorgeous analysis! Thank you for posting it!

[angevin2]

You're very welcome! It was a brilliant production -- I haven't been able to stop thinking about it since I saw it back in December.

[ritaxis]

It is such a delight when you do this. Thesde are ideas I had no idea about before you wrote them here.

[angevin2]

Thank you! I have sort of fallen out of the habit of making long discursive posts here, and it always feels good having done it. ;)

[angevin2]

Weaponized femininity = basically, drawing power from attributes (physical or otherwise) traditionally considered feminine.

Rory Kinnear is still the best Bolingbroke to ever Bolingbroke, it's true. But while I loved Ben Whishaw's Richard, Tennant actually played the Richard in my head and one cannot help but fall head-over-heels for a performance of that sort.

I also think Oliver Rix's Aumerle was kind of a subconscious influence on the fic I wrote you, because I didn't feel like Tom Hughes in the Hollow Crown version gave me much to work with! At any rate you may well like the fic I mentioned in the last paragraph, which has even more suicidal!Aumerle. Poor boy, I am terribly cruel to him in fic.

[a_t_rain]

Oh hey, does this mean there is a DVD release now? If yes, do you have a link by any chance?

You're making me want to teach this play next semester. I usually do H4 / H5 / Merry Wives, but maybe it's time to change it up again.

[angevin2]

It's not out yet, but it's been mentioned on the official RSC twitter. (I HOPE IT IS SOON BECAUSE I WANT IT NOOOOOOOW)

I always approve of teaching Richard II, of course, and this is actually a terrific production to show to newcomers -- not just because of Tennant's star power (which helps!) but also because of its tremendous clarity, both psychologically and in its careful outlining of the relationships between characters. My students never like Richard II when I teach it, but perhaps I oversell it, and possibly having Ben Whishaw and David Tennant at my disposal would help.

[nineweaving]

Absolutely!

"In a recent experiment, the RSC streamed video of its production of Richard II, starring David Tennant, to more than 7,000 primary school children.

"One teacher from Bolton wrote of her seven-year-old pupils: 'About 20 minutes into the performance, as I looked around at all the wide-eyed little faces looking up toward the screen, I thought I was going to cry. It gave our kids the opportunity to see the RSC for the first time in their lives. As one child in Year 3 said, "Miss, is this for real?"'"

Nine

[angevin2]

That is quite possibly the most adorable thing I have ever heard.

[angevin2]

You're very welcome! :)