Peter Viney's Blog

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Gregory Doran
Designed by Stephen Brimson-Lewis
Music by Paul Englishby

Royal Shakespeare Company
Stratford-Upon-Avon
Tuesday 28th June 2022, evening

CAST:
Nicholas Armfield – Richmond
Micah Balfour – Hastings
Oscar Batterham – Rivers
Claire Benedict – Duchess of York
Kirsty Bushell- Elizabeth
Sophie Cartman – Lady Hastings / Keeper / Citizen 3
Callum Coates – Brackenbury
Simon Coates – Stanley
Matthew Duckett – Berkley / Catesby
Will Edgerton – Tyrell
Minnie Gale- Margaret
Ashley D Gayle- Edward IV
Conor Glean – Murderer 2
Ben Hall- Clarence
Arthur Hughes – Richard III
Olivia Onyehara – Dorset / Citizen 2
Thom Petty – Ratcliffe
Joeravar Sangha – Murderer 1
Eloise Secker – Mistress Shore / Citizen 1
Rosie Sheehy – Anne
Jamie Wilkes – Buckingham

PROGRAMME CAST LIST:

I’ve been immersed in Richard III this year. It’s the best of the history plays for me, and I’ve been working on fiction which revolves partly around a student production. As part of the research, I rewatched the Olivier. I am NOT an Olivier fan.

I’m always unsure about these online cast lists in alphabetical order. Arthur Hughes is the main discussion here, then Rosie Sheehy is Anne. I’d put them at the top of the list along with Kirsty Bushell’s Elizabeth. I’d expected the cast to continue from Henry VI- Wars of The Roses, where Arthur Hughes also plays Richard, Duke of Gloucester. They don’t all, though Minnie Gale is Margaret in both productions, and Ben Hall continues as Clarence and Ashley D. Gayle as Edward IV. I also noted in advance that the Princes in the Tower of London are not listed online. There are three sets … they are in the programme.

This is also discussed in the Henry VI- Wars of The Roses review. Gregory Doran has made much of casting a disabled actor in the lead role, as Arthur Hughes has one of Richard III’s mentioned disabilities, a withered arm. The argument has been that you’d no longer cast a white actor as Othello, and just about everyone will agree with that. So only a disabled actor can play a disabled role. You can’t take it very far as an argument. Rosie Sheehy was a memorable King John at the RSC in the year 1 BC (Before Covid). But she’s female. Then Hastings, the Duchess of York and Edward IV are all BAME actors in this production, and I suspect English aristocrats in the 1480s were of a paler hue. The Earl of Dorset, son of Queen Elizabeth, is played by a female. Old Queen Margaret limps with the hip problems of old age- but that’s not a real disability. Also, if age is relevant to a role, why has a young actress been cast as an old crone?

I remain dubious about casting deaf actors to recite Shakespeare’s lines, not that they do in this one. Surely we’re talking about visual appearance on Richard and Othello? After all, that white bloke Will Shakespeare wrote for females, Moors, Jews, royalty, aristocracy, Italians, Romans, dark ages Scots … none of which he was. (Well, aristocracy in the fevered imaginations of those who thought someone else wrote them). Doran’s point I guess is on blacking up and prosthetic humps as insulting to BAME people and the disabled. Then why did he use a fat suit for Falstaff? Does that not offend the obese? It doesn’t matter much, as Arthur Hughes is a fine actor and definitely there on ability.

Gregory Doran has backed off a little from those pre-play comments on it needing to be played by a disabled actor:

Gregory Doran: Richard III is famously described as a ‘pois’nous bunch-back’d toad’, these sorts of insults are being hurled at someone with a lived experience of that prejudice. I didn’t cast Arthur because he’s a disabled actor, I cast him because he’s a terrific actor.
ITV News 30 June 2022

Arthur Hughes commented that Richard III was often seen as an almost comedy bad guy with a ‘fake hump and a limp.’ The real Richard III died at the Battle of Bosworth, aged only 32. He was a renowned warrior on the battlefield, so while he may have had a disability, it did not detract from his physical power overall. Hughes being both young (thirty), and muscular is well-suited. His age is not as unusual as the publicity suggests … Robert Sheehan played the part at The Rose, Kingston in 2015 when he was twenty-seven.

They mention that the part has usually been played by mature thespians. That’s how it’s written, surely. When Henry VI was murdered in 1471. The real Richard of Gloucester was eighteen, so he was only eighteen for the Lady Anne confrontation. The play then skips twelve years to the dying Edward IV. It’s not apparent in the play text or in any production. Shakespeare’s knowledge was limited, as (e.g.) Richard and Anne had actually grown up together. He didn’t know that. The first scene, when she accompanies her father-in-law’s dead body is a personal favourite. I thought it very well played, spectacular spitting, and also excellent business with the monks carrying the bier.

The production is dominated by a tall war memorial, otherwise, apart from a prison cage that slides across, and a set of steps for the scene where Richard pretends to be at prayer, it’s a bare stage, apart from the ubiquitous throne and long table. They could take it just as it is to the Globe and they would only need to add the war memorial. Is that purist? You expect a certain stripped back Globe style in productions on the South Bank. The RSC is usually more elaborate and strives for new interpretation (which is why I’d always choose the RSC over The Gobe).

Costumes are the standard indeterminate jerkins and robes, mainly black; long dresses in 15th century style for the women, and then armour. That’s set in stone, because it has to follow on from Henry VI- Wars of The Roses which featured the same three Yorkist brothers … Arthur Hughes as Richard of Gloucester, Ben Hall as Clarence, Ashley D. Gale as Edward IV. However, the trailer, programme cover and advanced publicity made much of Richard III, shirtless, bare-chested, like Vladimir Putin on a horse in what Putin seems to think is some kind of military homo-erotic mode. Well, it doesn’t carry through to the play. He never gets his shirt off. It might have enhanced it, especially as the Earl of Richmond’s white tunic reminded me of Ukraine’s President Zelensky, as do his lines. Except Zelensky’s top would be green. Lost opportunity.

For what is he they follow? Truly, gentlemen,
A bloody tyrant and a homicide;
One raised in blood, and one in blood established;
One that made means to come by what he hath,
And slaughtered those that were the means to help
him …

Earl of Richmond / Zelensky on Putin?

Those oligarchs do keep committing suicide in unusual ways.

It starts with a party, and has Richard of Gloucester declaiming the Now is the Winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this son of York, with his arm around Edward IV who he points to. OK, it loses the multiple meaning of son / sun (also the emblem on coins). The scene with Lady Anne is always vital, I can’t guarantee I’m right, but I thought she had some cuts.

I liked the murderers obviously dressed up as monks and looking decidedly dodgy for the scene where Richard pretends to be at prayer while the Mayor of London exhorts him to become king. Not that it’s the first to do it this way. On the other hand, the key to the murder of Clarence is a degree of comedy, but then it has to switch to violent terror, then stricken conscience. They remained the funny Brokers Men from Cinderella. Not having the butt of Malmsey on stage certainly undermined the scene.

I liked the feel that Richard and Buckingham were a villainy double-act, egging each other on.

As a production it was somewhat pedestrian. It lacked innovation or unusual ideas (heavily constrained as third of a trilogy), until the very end where the ghosts formed a balletic horse and fought the Battle of Bosworth in slow-motion, dressed in white with blood spatters.

They also introduced hand-held video and projection for Richard’s pre-battle speech, and Richmond’s pre-batthe speech. That was a hallmark of the two RSC Henry VI which preceded it. Here it was too late, too little and looked very ’sore thumb’ rather than integrated as it was in Henry VI. Video projection has worked well with modern-era productions with speeches addressed to camera as if on a news broadcast. Here it didn’t work, or rather it wasn’t necessary. Another I’d question is that the murderers become Richmond’s soldiers. They’re a very distinctive pairing, and when they were dressed up as monks, made it obvious that they were still the murderers dressed up. The trouble is they are so distinctive that you think, ‘Hold on. Have the murderers joined Richmond?’ At the end, Richmond lays a wreath of red Lancaster roses and white York roses on the war memorial, a good touch.

The supporting cast all work well. Jamie Wilkes as Buckingham and Micah Balfour as Hastings have the ‘other’ plum parts, and both fulfil the roles with energy. Buckingham’s scene where Richard is in too bad a mood to grant him the promised earldom (duchy?) of Hereford as a reward is particularly good. I’m sure the experts on Shakespearean era pronunciation could advise, but it took me a while to work out that Huh-fud was Hereford. Maybe it’s how they say it there.

Arthur Hughes delivers a magnificent central performance. It’s a Richard glorying in his asides on his plots and villainy, good on milking comedy from lines. He looks tough too. Where he loses is on the charismatic ability to mesmerise his female prey like a snake … areas where both Kevin Spacey at the Old Vic, and Mark Rylance at the Globe / Apollo excelled. The result reflects on the female parts. Kirsty Bushnell’s Queen Elizabeth has one of the best two scenes in the play, and was a great technical performance from both.

Remember, he has just announced that he’s bumped off his wife so is now free to re-marry, and it would be politically expedient to marry his niece, Elizabeth. OK, he’s had both her brothers and then her other uncle murdered, but, hey, that’s how it goes. Arthur Hughes manages to draw macabre humour from it too.That makes it an uphill struggle for Kirsty Bushell’s distraught Elizabeth, but she manages. This does come out slightly differently to normal.

I think they could have made more of Rosie Sheehy’s natural charismatic feistiness as Lady Anne, which wasn’t helped by truly dreadful costumes for all the women. We spent much time discussing the female roles.

Margaret (Minnie Gale) was too young for the part, and simply miscast which led to over-acting. Yes, Richard had murdered her husband and son, but we both felt you need age to make the curses stick. This is a play with four tremendous female roles in it … all of them hate Richard, and they all come together. The scene where they come together has an intensity that should be palpable, but it didn’t quite work in spite of having such a first class cast (we’ve seen them all in other plays). Perhaps it was having a Queen Margaret who’d apparently escaped from the witches scene in Macbeth.

Generally, we think all four women failed to project the extent of their deep revulsion. I have a theory why. They’re supposed to be revolted not only by Richard’s deeds, but also by his physical deformities. They’ve worked with Arthur Hughes. He’s an attractive looking bloke. They’re NOT in reality in the slightest revolted by his arm, and so I felt they held back reaction, in a way they would not have done with an actor with a prosthetic deformity … though there are often three; a leg in callipers (Spacey), a hunchback, and a twisted arm. Mostly, you don’t notice his arm. That’s the problem with making it real.

While Hughes is extremely powerful in his interpretation, and it is “a star is born,” he’s not the very best I’ve seen in the role (Kevin Spacey). The play had definitely not reached the “roll” that it will before the end of its run either. We might try and see it later. It lacks originality. It lacks interesting stagecraft. All the focus is on Arthur Hughes lead role and he certainly carries it off. It’s not “fantastic”. It’s a very good, but standard version. I think the pre-publicity successfully (over-) manipulated the “first disabled actor at the RSC to play Richard III” publicity, but in actuality it wasn’t that relevant. He was really good, whatever.

I’ve been told off for reviewing before press night in the past (we saw it Tuesday, press night is Thursday). My criteria is whether it’s a reduced price preview (you should not review) or full price. If it’s sold to the public at full price, then you’re subject to reviews. It was full price. Having said that, neither of us thought it had yet wound up to its eventual rhythm or smoothness. It will get better.

Overall: PLAY ***, (but ARTHUR HUGHES **** )

THE OTHER STUFF …

This is not the first time Gregory Doran has ignored the age-old public speaking rule that 90 minutes is the absolute maximum time to keep an audience in place. It’s a long play and hard to divide up. In Henry VI they had a second short ten minute interval- no drinks or food on sale, but enough time to nip out to the loo. He seems not to understand that women have smaller bladders and that both sexes have issues as they age. Act one is one hour 47 minutes and we were warned twice about the length by female RSC staff before the show … they know the issues and tell people. In reality tonight it was well past one hour fifty minutes. Last week we watched the two and a half hour Jurassic World: Dominion and we didn’t need to go out. The difference is psychological. In the cinema people do go in and out. The space between rows is wide, there’s no pressure. There’s no pressure at The Globe either.

At the RSC, everyone in the row would need to stand up, disturbing the actors. Then the stalls exits are only via the walkways the armoured cast are charging up and down. It is simply too long.

WHAT THE CRITICS SAID

My review was completed before the critics reviews came in. I’m adding them. There is a tendency to make veiled Boris Johnson connections. It’s unfair in both directions. For starters, Richard III when he was based in York administering the North in Edward IV’s reign, was remembered as an excellent and competent administrator. Be serious, it’s Putin that Richard III embodies .

I subsequently read reviews. I’m confident three stars is right (along with The Times and The Guardian).

four stars
Domenic Cavendish, The Telegraph, ****
The Stage ****
Gary Naylor, Broadway World ****
Michael Davies, What’s On Stage ****
three stars
Arifa Akbar, The Guardian ***
Clive Davis, The Times ***

LINKS ON THIS BLOG:

OTHER PRODUCTIONS OF RICHARD III

Richard III – Spacey, 2011 Old Vic, Kevin Spacey as Richard III
Richard III – RSC 2012 Jonjo O’Neill as Richard III
Richard III – Apollo 2012 Mark Rylance as Richard III (as at The Globe)
Richard III – Freeman, Trafalgar Studio, Martin Freeman as Richard III
Richard III – Wars of The Roses, Kingston, Robert Sheehan as Richard III
Richard III – Almeida, Ralph Fiennes as Richard III

A FEW OF THE CAST WERE IN:

Henry VI – Rebellion, RSC 2022
Henry VI- Wars of The Roses, RSC 2022

GREGORY DORAN (Director)
Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 RSC
Henry V – Alex Hassell, RSC, 2015
Julius Caesar – RSC 2012
Richard II – RSC 2013, David Tennant as Richard II
The Witch of Edmonton by Rowley, Dekker & Ford, RSC
Death of A Salesman, by Arthur Miller, RSC 2015
King Lear  – RSC 2016
The Tempest, RSC 2016
Troilus & Cressida, RSC 2018
Measure for Measure, RSC 2019

ARTHUR HUGHES
Henry VI- Wars of The Roses, RSC 2022

ROSIE SHEEHY
King John, RSC 2019 (King John)
The Whale by Samuel D. Hunter, Ustinov Bath 2018
Strife by John Galsworthy, Chichester 2016

KIRSTY BUSHELL
King Lear, Chichester Minerva, 2017 (Regan)
Romeo & Juliet, Globe 2017 (Juliet)
Hedda Gabler, Salisbury 2016 (Hedda)
The White Devil by John Webster, RSC 2014 (Vittoria)
The Tempest, RSC 2012 (Sebastian)
Twelfth Night, RSC 2012 (Olivia)
Comedy of Errors, RSC 2012 (Adriana)

JAMIE WILKES
The Rover by Aphra Behn, RSC 2016
The Two Noble Kinsmen, RSC, Swan Theatre, 2016
The Comedy of Errors, Globe 2014 (Dromio)
Titus Andronicus Globe 2014
The Shoemaker’s Holiday, RSC, 2015 (Hammon)

BEN HALL
Henry VI – Rebellion, RSC 2022
Henry VI- Wars of The Roses, RSC 2022
Henry V, Tobacco Factory, 2018 (Henry V)
Coriolanus, RSC 2017
Salomé, RSC 2017

ASHLEY D GALE
Henry VI – Rebellion, RSC 2022
Henry VI- Wars of The Roses