Richard III Review
A heartfelt but ultimately unsatisfying retelling of one of Shakespeare’s histories.
Address: 24-26 High St, Kingston upon Thames KT1 1HL. Get directions.
Our verdict
A performance of Richard III is never straightforward for a modern director. Do they stick to the traditional depiction of a hunched menace complete with black bob and tights? Or do they venture elsewhere, as for example the 1995 film starring Sir Ian McKellan who appeared as a dictator emerging in 1930s fascist Britain?
Whichever route a creative takes, it leads, unfortunately to problems.
Director Adjoa Andoh, one of the RSC’s most formidable players and who has lately become something of a household name thanks to her role as Lady Danbury in Netflix bodice ripper Bridgerton, sees Richard in a different light, writing in the preface to this version that she felt a ‘kinship’ to the much-maligned king.
The actor, who also plays the titular role, says growing up in the Cotswolds, that she too, like Richard, was ‘judged by what I looked like, rather than who I was’.
So far so sensible. But sadly (and even though the Richard III Society has done much to rehabilitate the monarch, and remembering also that Shakespeare needed the patronage of the King whose line defeated Richard at Bosworth Field), the text tells the story of a power-hungry monster, who orders the death of at least 10 characters – including, his own wife (whom he seduces while she has just seen her husband stabbed to death) and his two young nephews.
The action moves from London to Barnard Castle before arriving at Bosworth Field, however, Amelia Jane Hankin’s set revolves around a central decaying tree, which as well as representing the rural nature of Andoh’s upbringing, also stands as a testament to the rotten nature of Richard’s deeds which ends ultimately in the end of his bloodline.
The 14-strong cast multi-role and are all equally efficient in delivering nuanced performances that enables the audience to follow who is next in line for the axe.
However, the text is often raced through, becoming garbled and thus we fail to understand from where Richard’s motivation is derived.
With everyone speaking in a West Country drawl (which often seems to slip into Irish), alongside the Maypole, Morris dancers, and multiple inexplicable killings, the production begins to look like a ‘ye olde’ version of Midsomer Murders.
Andoh is impressive. Her tone, facial expressions and physicality by turn mercurial and menacing. However, what is missing is any kind of understanding of what Richard has done – even at the end, the murdered King walks among the Tudor vanquishers moaning about his treatment at their hands. Ultimately, seeing someone whose history has presented for centuries as a mass murderer as merely understood, sadly misses the mark.
Richard III at The Rose Theatre, Kingston until May 13. Visit: rosetheatre.org
