Putting it simply, this is Shakespeare's Richard III, in German. It is, however, far more than that. Director, Thomas Ostermeier, takes the Bard's original intent of painting the King as black-hearted as any villain can be. For Shakespeare, this was politically wise, since Richard's enemies were now the royalty of the day, the royal rose has changed colour, and his interpretation added to their claim to be the rightful rulers. This Schaubühne Berlin production portrays Richard as the ultimate villain.
Lars Eidinger is a terrifying Richard, whose grip on sanity seems tentative, at best. From the start, a party celebrating victory and Edward taking the throne with glittering strips cascading down, it is clear that Richard is out of place "in this, weak, piping time of peace". The opening declamatory speech is delivered with venom, and his evil plans are set in motion. Eidinger's Richard knows no boundaries and is completely amoral. Even kings are but pawns in Richard's game.
Eidinger is very much the Richard presented to us at school, back in the 1950s, a vicious, duplicitous wretch who hates himself as much as those around him hate him. Even when he achieves his goal and becomes king, he finds no peace, and again relishes war, more as a distraction that for any great purpose. There is, as the saying goes, no rest for the wicked.
Ostermeier, though, presents this in a very different way to the straightforward productions of a half century ago. Costuming, by Florence von Gerkan, are in the style of the 1940s, and Richard uses a microphone and video camera dangling on a long, heavy lead, both as an intimate means of whispering his malice to the audience, and as a device for swinging at the others around him for emphasis.
Jan Pappelbaum's set reflects the simplicity of the staging in Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, and Erich Schneider's lighting does much to enhance the darkness of the tale. Alongside this there is Nils Ostendorf's disturbing music, with live drumming from Thomas Witte, below and to the side of the performance space. It all adds up to put the audience ill at ease, ideally fitting the pure evil unfolding.
Eidinger invests his character with enough guile and charisma that he is even able to have Richard seduce the audience to his will, having us chant abuse with him at the departing Buckingham using vulgar language of today, one of the few moments where English is heard. Queen Elizabeth refers to Richard as "That bottled spider" and, like a spider, Eidinger's Richard stays centre, making everything happen around him, catching everybody in his webs of intrigue.
Moritz Gottwald, Eva Meckbach, Jenny König, David Ruland, Robert Beyer, Thomas Bading, Christoph Gawenda, and Laurenz Laufenberg take on all of the other roles in the play, with most of them doubling or tripling their characters. This is a very strong ensemble and all of the performances are impressive, with convincing characterisations and believable interactions of allies and enemies alike.
This company has brought exciting works to Adelaide in the past, and this one is no exception. If there are any tickets left then do your best to get one, before they go.
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