Richard III, a case study in Machiavellian political intrigue and a deep dive into the heart of darkness of power trips leads out this years Shakespeare in the Park 2025.
Presented by Shoreside Theatre and directed by Catherine Boniface.
We start with a Roaring Twenties high society cocktail party. Flappers, and men in three-piece tailored drapes. Champagne flows and pearls adorn slender necks. Jazz on saxophones play here and throughout the performance.
The atmosphere drips money and the presence of heavy power. There is an underlying menace as Richard Duke of Gloucester (Christopher Raven) steps out to speak directly to the audience.
Now is the winter of our discontent/ Made glorious summer by this sun of York.
The outdoor amphitheatre setting works magnificently this evening as the winds are heralding the coming tempest and the temperature is barmy.
The setting could be Great Gatsby as designed by Quentin Tarantino in the manner of Reservoir Dogs. It is stylish and deeply violent. The nature of gangsters and Mafiosi.
As above, so below. The nature of politics and Control over the course of human history. High ideals and base vulgarity. Money doesn’t talk it swears (Bob Dylan).
Raven plays the role with relish. Traditionally Richard is regarded as a deformed hunchback overcompensating for short stature. He is played with his left arm mimicking a nerve palsy.
We are privy to his inner dialogue as he tells us his plans to be an arch villain and get rid of all the hereditary barriers and murder his way to the throne.
He doesn’t appear to have any higher ideals than the lust for power. Maybe lust is reason enough.
He is fingered as the Devil incarnate early on.
The early scene has the confrontation with Lady Anne (Viola Ember), whose husband and father (King Henry VI), he has murdered.
Whilst trying his slimy best to seduce her, the ashes of the bodies in an urn she is holding, he makes the excuse that he was besotted with her beauty.
This is a key scene in the play. There is sexual tension turned up high. He brandishes a knife and flaunts it in phallic style. Then holds it to his own throat he threatens to kill himself. The knife is turned into a gun that Anne controls.
Flee a knife/ Charge a gun. It is a moral decision to squeeze the trigger, and most people cannot when they are being looked in the eye. She accepts his ring instead.
Richard is a monster. A friend of horror, and by doing so it is his friend.
When he arranges the murder of Queen Elizabeth’s (Meg Anderson) two young boys, the sexual tension is heightened again. The Queen was married to King Edward IV (Jordan Smith Henare), Richards eldest brother, who got rid of himself by dying of illness.
He persuades Elizabeth to let her sole remaining daughter marry him and secure a power position on the throne. Struck with grief and being fed a Faustian pact. Clearly sexual and sadistic.
No wonder that she enlists the aid and comfort of the other women. Richard’s own mother Duchess of York (Namrata Shanbhag), Queen Margaret the widow of murdered King Henry VI (Suzy Sampson). They conspire to curse him.
Richard enlists the help of his cousin Lord Buckingham (Andrew Norman) to sell himself as a virtuous pious man who would rather die than become King.
A few more convenient murders help. The deed is done, and Buckingham gets ghosted when he asks for his promised rewards.
The downfall of Richard is set in motion.
These are strong performances by the principles. The portrait of a tyrant.
He may be driven by lust, but he has a deep understanding that people who are grievously abused come to find security and perhaps even love toward their oppressor.
Parallels the worst dictators of the last century, and a pointer to the current ones. Big Brother is a shadow presence too.
One of the strongest secondary characters is Catesby (Lauren Wilson). Mirrors the ruthlessness of Richard as his enabler. But he is colder and, in many ways, more terrifying in the portrayal by Wilson. Played in full Tarantino psychopathic Reservoir Dogs mode
The ideal hired assassin who cannot be reached by emotion. Who knows what motivates the double or triple agent? A black hole of the psyche.
I think the lead actor does get there. He is an eloquent and well-spoken devil. He is cunning and witty with a very dark sense of humour.
He is wracked by demons as he approaches his downfall. Of which there is nowhere else to go once you have reached the top. Sympathy for the Devil?
Rev. Orange Peel