REVIEW – THE TRAGEDY of KING RICHARD III
by William Shakespeare
Performed by Demi-Paradise Productions

Lancaster Castle, Lancaster
Wednesday 1 to Saturday 25 March 2006

Evil, drama, violence and suspense in a unique setting
create a magic, epic and unforgettable experience for young and old

Howard Chadwick (Richard) and Christine Mackie (Queen Elizabeth, appearing in Richard III at Lancaster Castle

Shakespeare's early King Richard III, dating from 1593 when the poet had not turned thirty, is to most people one of three things:many see it as a gross distortion of fifteenth century history and a politically-motivated blackening of the good name of the House of York and its last king, Richard 'Crookback'.

Or it is Shakespeare's second longest play (after Hamlet) with 3,602 lines and 28,439 words; it is admired for the complexity of its plots which absorb and mesmerise the theatre-goer, and contains some of Shakespeare's finest writing for women in the three Queens Margaret, Elizabeth and (later) Anne, and the redoubtable Duchess of York.

Third, many also find that the nature, thoughts and deeds of the eponymous Richard make for the most evil of Shakespeare's villains, leaving even Macbeth and Iago looking relatively amiable.Some also see in the play a definitive depiction of the nature of political tyranny -- an impression confirmed by a riveting production I saw in Leeds starring Ian McKellen and set in Nazi Germany.

Whichever of these views you hold (and I for one hold them all to varying degrees), it has been said about this production in Lancaster Castle that "There are two stars in this show: the building and the play".This is a truism -- but only a partial one.

Lancaster Castle dates back to well before the events portrayed in the play took place; that is from c1470 to 1485.This period covers the end of the bitter and long drawn out Wars of the Roses, that internecine strife between the rival dynasties of York and Lancaster, and the much hoped for prospect of peace and prosperity expected after the establishment of the House of Tudor under Henry VII, Richard's nemesis and victor at Bosworth Field.

So it was a powerful and awesome experience seeing the action unfold in buildings which were extant in Shakespeare's own times as well as during the lives of many of the characters --some of whom will undoubtedly have visited Lancaster Castle.

It is commonly held that whoever plays Richard is necessarily the star of the show.Certainly, it is a huge part (again the second longest in the canon after Hamlet, with 1,151 lines) and Richard himself is on stage nearly all the time.It is thus an exhausting rôle, particularly if the character is played with physical deformities such as the traditional hump or, as in this production, with a deformed hand and pronounced limp.

And Howard Chadwick was stunning and thrilling as Richard.The villainy was well in evidence, in Chadwick's body language, gestures, facial expressions, admirable diction and his extensive vocal and emotional ranges.Yet the black and ironic humour nonetheless burst forth, generating from the audience groans of recognition, sneers of ironic acknowledgement or helpless guffaws at the sheer brazen deeds and deceits of the man.

But this is in no way to belittle the rest of the cast whose playing, with hardly a weak spot, turned what is often a one-man show into a glorious reminder of the importance of strong ensemble playing.Diction and,gratifyingly, the verse speaking were first class.The women I referred to above were especially memorable; the sheer evil horror of their cursings and lamentings was palpable.

The children, who meet their (alleged) hapless end in the Tower of London were played with skill and maturity beyond their years by Jordan Ecclestone and Chrisopher Jotischky-Hull (who alternate these roles with Joshua Bancroft and Callum Etches).

The final body count takes nearly half the total cast of nearly fifty.Such intense, physical malevolence and brutality on stage would be imitated by lesser talents, and later become a hallmark of the 'Jacobean video nasties', aka the revenge tragedies of Webster, Middleton et al after the death of Elizabeth I in 1603.

Yet despite all this, how is it we don't walk out in disgust at Richard, his cronies, actions and appalling behaviour?Perhaps more than Macbeth or Titus Andronicus, we somehow still feel something for Richard.Or is it just that Shakespeare knows how to lead us on towards the heart of the man, or the heart of the human condition -- just as Hitchcock has done in our lifetimes?I do not know, but this production somehow kept us on the edge of our seats and our knuckles (and sometimes cheeks) white.

Mention must also be made of the music which punctuated the action.Entirely sung and played by the cast, it accompanied us as we moved between the different locations in the Castle, adding to and complementing the intensity of the plot, highlighting the dramatic tension and focussing the mind as it pondered the continuing struggle between good and evil.

The nature of the building with its choice of locations for different parts of the action, the acoustics (enviably faultless everywhere), were ingeniously used to great dramatic effect.Lighting was also well designed (even though we went to a matinée), and the excellent costumes were Edwardian, which chillingly reminded us that evil is never far away, as we imagined the horrors-still-to-come of World War I.

The overall experience of this production is, however, much more than the sum of these excellent parts I have just evaluated.It is almost beyond this critic's means to describe the thrill, magic, vigour, evil and world-class professionalism we enjoyed last week.

It was almost ecactly fours after arriving at the Castle that we left, still in a spell, into the cold evening air; the play had lasted over three and a half hours.This had just flown by; the interval was almost an irrelevance.Unusually, but marvellous to behold, the audience was mostly schoolchildren - it's not often that theatre audiences in Lancaster have an average age of under 20!

And they too were spellbound; you could hear their amazement and see their absorption as the drama unfolded.They were better behaved than most adult audiences we see -- not a rattling chocolate wrapper or lazily suppressed cough in sight.If fifteen year olds can be held in awe by Shakespeare -- and tragedy at that -- you cannot wish for clearer evidence that something really, really out of the ordinary is going on.

There is no wonder that this and previous similar shows in the Castle sell out very quickly.The reason is simple:this production, directed by Sue McCormick and produced by Steve Tomlin, is one of the few supremely memorable events -- by far - in the forty and more years I have been going to the theatre.

Book now for whatever Demi-paradise offer in 2007.

Copyright © 16 March 2006 Michael Nunn

Line counts etc taken from Crystal D and Crystal B (2005), The Shakespeare Miscellany.