Digging Up Bones: Stratford's Richard III Exhumes A Tormented Villain-- by Robin L. Harvey
courtesy: Stratford Festival David Hou
A Summary Review by Robin L. Harvey @RobinharveyL of Richard III by William Shakespeare. Directed by Antoni Cimolino at the Stratford Festival’s new Tom Patterson Theatre
The Cast: Colm Feore’s diabolic movements distracted and marred this worthy production. Too often he hammed his asides to the audience for cheap laughs. Beyond these failings, he carried the play to success. His amazing facility with Shakespearean language made his soliloquies pointed yet musical. While plotting mayhem, death and revenge against his enemies, his performance was layered and subtle enough to evoke the audience’s sympathy. He rendered his final soliloquy so full of guilt and pained self-reflection that despite his murderous acts, one could almost hope he’d escape his inevitable demise.
André Sills as Buckingham was the strongest element in the cast after Feore. When confronted with Richard’s betrayal, his shock and palpable regret were wrought with pain. In the dream sequence when he returns to haunt Richard before his final battle, his anger and revulsion blasted hard enough to make one’s skin tingle.
David Collins portrayed Stanley as a canny follower who kept a composed and strong head. His interjections cast an instrumental light that helped outlined the progression of Richard’s intricate plots and double dealings.
Diana LeBlanc as the Duchess of York (Richard’s mother) was easily believable as a woman horrified by her spawn. She made the audience almost want to cry with and for her. Sienna McKenna as Queen Margaret played the part with heft that cast a magnetic spell to mesmerize the audience as she launched into eerie predictions and curses about events to come.
The Direction: Antoni Cimolino staged this intricate and complex play to be easily followed by scholars or lay people. His blocking positioned the multiple characters to their best advantage on the theatre’s prong arch stage. Best were his haunting dream scenes, and a final battle scene that exploded so fiercely watching it one almost felt knocked flat. Cimolino’s choice to show the stark and brutal killing of Richard’s nephews used lighting and special effects to create distance so as to not shock or overwhelm the audience with a plot point often simply exposed through dialogue.
Cimolino’s choice to frame the play with events related to the discovery of Richard’s remains created a symmetry that enfolded and positioned the production in a thoughtful, modern context.
The Design: Both the set and costumes lived up to the era’s pageantry. The set struck a necessary minimalist tone, suited to the intimate, smaller stage. Some costumes seemed overdone for so many players working the limited space.
The Tom Patterson Theatre: Worth every penny of its $72-million cost. Opulent, yet innately simple in its classy and comfortable design. Intimate rather than imposing, with great acoustics and sightlines.