Sunday, February 04, 2007

RICHARD III

"Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time."

This was an extraordinary production, a tribute to the power of ensemble and a demonstration of the strength in depth of the RSC. Jonathan Slinger lived up to the promise in Henry VI Part 3 that he would deliver a bravura performance as Richard, and was strongly supported by a cast that gets better and better as the Histories move on. The critics, excepting Nicholas de Jongh, who has reverted again to liking little that the RSC does, were all enthusiastic.

Kate Kellaway wrote in The Observer,

".... it is not entirely fair to dwell on individual performances - for this is, above all, a virtuoso ensemble piece. I shan't forget the beautiful staging of the night before Richard's death: a collective haunting by the people he has killed. The ghostly little princes whom he has arranged to have suffocated in the tower hold up their pillows like shields and white feathers fall from on high: down comes the down."

Personal Star Rating [out of five] *****

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