[star rating=”4″] THE TRAGEDY OF KING RICHARD THE SECOND. Directed by Joe Hill-Gibbins with Simon Russel Beale, Leo Bill, Martins Imhangbe, Natalie Klamar, John Mackay, Joseph Mydell, Saskia Reeves and Robin Weaver. An NT Live production at Cinema Nouveau.
MEGAN FURNISS reviews
The British, naturally, are completely at home with Shakespeare, and more particularly with the historicals. They are not my favourite Shakespeare genre, but I try hard not to miss an opportunity to see any NT Live production because there is a 99% chance that I will love it.
This Almeida Theatre production of The Tragedy of King Richard the Second is superb. I understood exactly what was happening, and what every single person was saying. I understood, and was moved by what was deeply felt, I laughed at the ridiculousness and comedy of the absurd, got shivers from the totally relevant politics of it all, and I revelled in the exquisite language. I also marvelled at the performances, delighted in the original and genius staging, and was very happy that it wasn’t endless and indulgent.
The fire curtain is down before the play starts and is suddenly up to reveal a solid square box on three sides. No entrance, no windows, no wings. A box. All eight actors are trapped in it from beginning to end. King Richard is lit by a small circle of light and speaks the opening monologue with a whimsy and poetry that relieves it from being the rambling of a totally self-deluded and self-obsessed soul. But it sets the tone for a bitter and political play about an ineffective and out of touch king, his bad decisions, and the succession to the throne of equally complicated Henry Bolingbroke.
Simon Russel Beale delivers a complex and mesmerising portrayal of this king who only knows being king; he came to the throne so young. Every gesture, moment, reflection, inflection, eyebrow shift, every whine, shout, beat of sarcasm, is perfect, and brilliantly judged in this small space. Leo Bill as Bolingbroke is Beale’s physical opposite – a tall and gangly, sharp faced usurper and he too is brilliant in his twists and turns he struggles for power.
The rest of the cast are superb. They operate as chorus, where individual characters emerge, like a political cesspool spewing individual leeches who cling to the one with most blood to offer. Dressed in contemporary, actor-style clothes there is a confluence of performer and character, making it highly theatrical and very visceral and emotional and threatening. It’s a political boxing ring, and each performer is extraordinary in the way that they are deeply involved in the telling of the story.
The almost bare stage and walls, distressed to look like rusting metal, are a prison. Six black plastic buckets with masking tape labelled ‘blood’, ‘soil’, ‘water’ are the only props, aside from the crown. Their contents are used brilliantly as things get dirty. And they really do. The lighting, a complete revelation, makes this live production almost black and white.
And the sound. The strange and unhinged loud clock ticking. The unfamiliar and elusive music. The walls that allow for echoing banging.
I had no idea how involved in this play I would become. Another NT Live triumph that I was so privileged to see.
What: The Tragedy of King Richard the Second review
Where and when: Ster-Kinekor Nouveau on 27 and 28 February 2019, 7.30pm
Book: Here
WS
