From a gap within the stage, a voice bellows: “The place are my boots?” Historical past (personified by Tom Kanji) is aghast on the sound. He’s right here, in a Leicester automobile park, to report the invention of the physique of a “hunchbacked” medieval king. Richard III (Kyle Rowe) rises from his grave, dazed however pugnacious. When Historical past reveals to him that he’s considered at this time because the very kind of a depraved villain, an appalled Richard calls for they re-examine the report of his life. What follows is stuffed with sound and fury (as if to echo Historical past’s assertion that historical past, with a small “h”, is written by he who shouts loudest), confrontational dialogue punctuated by catch-line humour (Laura Smithers’s nakedly bold, though gorgeously gowned Margaret repeatedly insisting that her son is “one thirty-two-th” royal blood – he’ll defeat Richard to be topped Henry VII).
The place Shakespeare used Richard to discover ethical questions of excellent and evil, Philippa Gregory’s Richard, My Richard goals to align him extra intently with “historic reality”. Within the first half, over a staccato sequence of scenes, her straight-backed, Yorkshire-accented king denies killing his uncle; proclaims loyalty to his brother, Edward (Matt Concannon); exhibits his love for his spouse, Anne (Tori Burgess); and is keen to find from Historical past the destiny of the 2 younger princes within the Tower. He would do higher to ask Anne or Margaret.
As in her novels, the famend author of historical past and historic fiction offers pivotal roles to feminine characters, particularly within the play’s second half, the place the motion opens up and permits more room for interplay (and viewers engagement). All scheme as ruthlessly as the lads, whereas the princes’ mom (Jennifer Matter) and sister (Mary Savage) additionally practise witchcraft in opposition to their enemies (echoes of Macbeth are intentional).
Katie Posner’s path sends scenes flying throughout the in-the-round stage. The textual content doesn’t permit for nuanced interpretations, however performances are carried off with panache. Philip Gladwell’s sculpted lighting and Richard Kent’s stark, darkish set evoke an environment of courtly intrigue. Soundscapes by Beth Duke generally chime powerfully with shifting emotional tones, however are too usually tiresome of their intrusive omnipresence.
A soliloquy by Historical past, explaining why he data the lives of the 2 princes, however not of these youngsters who’re “bobbing in boats, focused in bombings”, delivers the play’s most arresting second. “If you happen to don’t care,” he asks, “how can I?”
