Richard III

by William Shakespeare

seen at the Barbican on 19 February 2017

Thomas Ostermeier directed members of the Schaubühne Berlin company in a startling production of Shakespeare's play rendered in modern German prose by Marius von Mayenberg. Lars Eidinger played the king, supported by Moritz Gottwald as Buckingham, Eva Meckbach as Elizabeth, and Jenny König as Lady Anne, with others taking multiple parts. The set was designed by Jan Pappelbaum.

It is always fascinating to see Shakespeare performed in another language, though of course the surtitles tend to make use of the original text, thus re-familiarising the work. (At times, some lines were repeated in English, and the non-Shakespearean comments to the audience were also in English.) Here, too, was a very modern design, an almost bare stage dusted with sand, with a huge wall at the back containing a ceremonial exit in the middle (usually covered by hung carpets), with less conspicuous exits on either side and on an upper level accessed by a set of stairs and a ladder. In fact, it was a stage formally similar to classical Greek or Roman theatres, but with a modern or timeless feel. An electric cable suspended from above allowed a small spotlight and microphone to be constantly available for Richard's asides and interior musings.

Richard III

by William Shakespeare

seen by live streaming from the Almeida Theatre on 21 July 2016

Rupert Goold directs Ralph Fiennes as the eponymous king, with Vanessa Redgrave as Queen Margaret, Finbar Lynch as Buckingham and Aislín McGuckin as Queen Elizabeth. The set is designed by Hildegard Bechtler.

The play opens with a forensic excavation of a pit or grave, taking place while the audience enters. This is, it transpires, the famous exhumation of King Richard's remains from under a car park in Leicester in 2012. As the news broadcast of the DNA confirmation of the skeleton's identity fades, the play begins. The grave remains constantly visible, usually through a perspex floor; but it is occasionally used as the receptacle for executed or murdered victims of the king, before he himself is finally killed in it during the battle at Bosworth Field.

Kings of War

adapted from William Shakespeare

seen at the Barbican on 29 April 2016

Bart Van Den Eynde and Peter van Kraaij have fashioned a long (4.5 hour) play from Henry V, the three parts of Henry VI (mainly parts 2 and 3), and Richard III. Ivan van Hove directs members of the Toneelgroep Amsterdam; the production is in Dutch with English surtitles.

The undertaking is ambitious and really striking; it is especially fascinating to have familiar speeches adapted and spoken in a foreign language. The setting was modern - for the scenes relating to Henry V, there were computer screens with military displays, and large maps to chart the progress of the French campaign; in effect we were in a modern military headquarters. Later we were in a sort of public reception room (for the reign of Edward IV) and finally in an empty but somehow rather claustrophobic space (yet still the whole expanse of the Barbican stage) for Richard III. Video cameras, both positioned around the stage, and a hand-held camera wielded by a technician, were liberally used with the image projected on a large screen suspended above the back wall of the set. This allowed the se of a number of corridors backstage, where various confrontations and deahs occurred.