Young King Richard II presides over a dispute between two of his subjects. Bolingbroke accuses Mowbray of treachery and Mowbray returns the slur. Richard, God’s anointed King, banishes both from his kingdom, and unknowingly sows the seeds of his own downfall. Bolingbroke will not accept the punishment and returns home with an army of supporters, full of determination and ambition. Read more …
With dangerous carelessness, Richard pillages his country’s resources and ignores the threat to his throne. He simply cannot conceive that his ‘divine right’ to rule could ever be snatched away…
“Show us the hand of God
That hath dismissed us from our stewardship;
For well we know, no hand of blood and bone
Can grip the sacred handle of our sceptre.”
Richard II makes its Bard in the Botanics debut this summer, performed by a company of four actors inside the stunning Kibble Palace Glasshouse. Don’t miss this chance to see Shakespeare’s gripping tale of the waning King and the uncompromising & passionate subject, who rises to take his place.
Overall, Dick’s wisely keeps the focus squarely on the words and their meaning, which, with due regard to the strong performances, results in a production of exceptional clarity.
If the overall effect of this tightly focussed production is uneven, and sometimes oddly repetitive, it still makes for a fascinating evening.
With Elkin an already dynamic presence, the use of a contemporary pop soundtrack gives things an extra flourish, with both Morrissey and Antony and the Johnsons adding to the melancholy as the lovers are forced apart in this most daringly audacious of reinventions.
Even if a flighty monarch who loses his kingdom in a bloodless coup is no match for Shakespeare’s better-known tyrants, Dick makes a persuasive case for a play about leadership, righteousness and characters propelled by the tide of history.
Bard in the Botanics, Glasgow from Tuesday July 21, 2015, until Saturday August 1, 2015. More info: http://www.bardinthebotanics.co.uk