BWW Reviews: Kevin Spacey's RICHARD III a Gripping Tour-de-Force Now Through Oct. 29th

The word "Now" was the telling projection that greeted audiences at the opening night of Richard III, starring a fiendishly maniacal Kevin Spacey. It formed the backdrop of Tom Piper's deathly pale, whitewashed set on which a lone black leather and silver chrome chair sat center stage. Clearly this Shakespearean play was not taking place in medieval England. In fact it could be taking place anywhere... and now.

With the sudden sound of the timpani drum the theater was plunged into abject darkness. Just as quickly the lights came up and there sat the twisted, distorted figure of Richard, before he came to be king. And, for those with eyes to see, his dark and criminal rise to power is the cautionary tale of what tyranny, greed and corruption can do to a man and his country even now.

In this latest revival of "Richard," now playing at San Francisco's Curran Theater, director Sam Mendes and Kevin Spacey do everything in their power to make sure that we do see. As a result, Richard III is a gripping, intense tour de force and hits troublingly close to home in these times of crime and corruption on Wall Street and around the world.

Spacey is nothing short of brilliant as the crippled Richard whose inner demons fly free from his bent body in order to do their master's bidding and gain for him the highest seat in the land. Nothing will stand in his way.

His whispered lies, strategically hooded in the guise of a prophecy, guarantee that brother George of Clarence (the wonderful Chandler Williams) will end up in the Tower, there to die before he can take the crown.

After killing both her husband and her father, he wins over Lady Anne (Annabel Scholey) with the sheer force of his will, wheedling and coaxing in one moment, threatening to kill himself and seducing her in the next. Though she is horrified by his deeds she is unaccountably drawn into his forceful and charismatic web, agreeing to wear his ring and one day be his queen.

Upon gaining her acceptance he is disgusted with her easy acquiescence, smirking through a soliloquy with snide humor and loathing for them both. How easy it is though, to see the corrupt ways of the powerful and nevertheless succumb to their charms. We do it all the time.

Mendes does a masterful job staging the large cast in this joint project involving London's Old Vic and the Brooklyn Academy Of Music. The momentum is tumultuous, yet focused and biting as, one by one, each adversary on the way to Richard's throne is beheaded, butchered or otherwise slaughtered.

Paul Pyant's lighting casts a stark whiteness over the proceedings, forcing Richard's rapaciousness into bold relief. But, cunning and wily, Richard cloaks his 'naked villainy' in metaphorical darkness as when he appears before the public on a widescreen monitor, praying on pious bended knee before the cross. All that's missing is the flag pin on his lapel. As then, so now.

The men who are his henchmen, especially Chuk Iwuji as the Duke of Buckingham, play their parts quite well. But it is Gemma Jones as the curse-spouting old Queen Margaret and Haydn Gwynne in the role of the grieving Queen Elizabeth that add immeasurably to the production.

And though they rail against Richard they never once question the system of royal prerogative, power, privilege and absolute immunity that almost always make madmen of monarchs. Crazed with a lust for power Richard eviscerates his family and friends as well as his enemies and can only be stopped by the sword.

It would be Henry VII (Nathan Darrow) who would unseat him from his horse in the battle of Bosworth. A bloodied Richard utters the famous lines "A horse, a horse! My Kingdom for a horse!" But to no avail. After a fierce battle with Henry (Fight director Terry King excels), Richard dies, but the system of power and privilege goes on and we are left to wonder: What's to be gained by exchanging one tyrant for another?

"Now is the winter of our discontent."

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Richard III: Drama
Now through October 29th
Three hours, 25 minutes
By William Shakespeare
Directed by Sam Mendes
www.shnsf.com
Photo courtesy of Alastair Muir

 

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