RICHARD III
I've never read Richard III and didn't know much about the show beforehand. I'd watched the clips that Stratford posted on Youtube and only knew that it was a story of murder and doing anything to come into power. It was exciting to see the show in the Tom Patterson Theater, the only theater we had not been in besides the Studio Theater. Only 50 ft long and 19 ft wide, the theater has little space and is much like the Riverwalk Theater in downtown Lansing, having three sections of seats surrounding the stage, hallways for the actors to enter and exit and hidden spots for the actors to appear and scare the pants off the audience.
Besides a new stage, I was most excited to see Richard III played by a woman. Because I knew nothing about the show and what it called for, I didn't know how much of a difference a woman could make in the role. I was blown away from the first time Seana McKenna came onstage slightly hunched over and in the creepiest wig I have ever seen. I had read in an article just before the show of an interview with McKenna who said she sees Richard as an actor who just wants to be somebody and uses sarcasm, cunning and humor to win people over. Her portrayal of Richard in this way shone through her brilliant performance and made Richard a very likable yet unlikable character who will do anything to become King. Along with the rest of the amazing cast, they made one great show.
One of the things I've always loved about Stratford productions is the level of creativity when it comes to the sets, costumes and especially staging. The Patterson Theater being very long but not very wide proved no challenge and everything ran smoothly. The stage was flat and had only one small raised platform near the front which gave a creepy feeling off as the main set of the Tower where the murders take place. For such a small space, its use was excellent. The set was very simple, as the stage had to be a two different throne rooms, a church, a tower and a battlefield. It was cool to see that above the set were white and red roses signifying the War of Roses that sets the two families against each other in their quest for power.
My two favorite moments of the show came in the second half of the production. When Richard sleeps the night before the final battle, in his dreams he is visited by the ghosts of all he's killed, who remind him of what he's done and end with the same curse "despair and die". The staging of such a creepy turning point was wonderful and showed how Richard is more vulnerable and weak than he thinks. The other fantastic moment was the ending where Richard fights Henry the Earl of Richmond. The final moments with Richard in the battle were done in slow motion, showing the ghosts helping Henry and bringing Richard to his death. The last few words of the show are a prayer and end with a ghostly "Amen".
Richard III was such an amazing show and one of the best I've seen at Stratford so far, and for me, Richard will always be one hell of a woman.
TITUS ANDRONICUS
It was at the very last minute that we decided to make Titus Andronicus our second show of the day. I had been talking about it for weeks and was excited when I convinced the committee to go see it. Shakespeare's most violent show and first tragedy is not very well-known and is so unusual it seems hard to believe that it belongs to the Bard. The theme of the play is revenge, and as it is heaped upon one character after another, the result is nothing short of a horrific bloodbath.
There are many characters in story of Titus which can make it difficult to keep track of who is related to whom, but when it comes to theme of revenge, the result is the same. One side is wronged, they exact brutal revenge on the other side who returns the bloody favor. Who will be left standing? In the play Titus Andronicus, the answer is "not many". The cycle begins when Titus brings home the last few prisoners of the Goths; the queen Tamora, her lover Aaron and three sons Chiron, Demetrius and Alarbus. The Romans immediately call for a sacrifice and without thinking Titus give Alarbus back to the Gods right before Romes eyes. It is from here that Tamora vows revenge on his family and the horrific cycle of revenge is set in motion.
The staging of Titus Andronicus was significantly different than that of Richard III. The main piece of set and prop used was a large cage that in the first scene held the imprisoned Goths, was the scene where the eldest son of Tamora is slain and finally used by Aaron to set up a crime and falsely accuse two of Titus' sons and condemn them to death. Besides using the main stage, portions of the show took place among the audience. Members of Tamora's family often interacted with audience members on the lower levels while the Andronici utilized the hidden spots above the stage, one of the two just a row behind us. Being so close to the actors made certain points of the show more powerful, even though the final scene on stage was the most powerful of all.
To pull off a show like Titus you need a spot-on cast who together can create a true ring of revenge. John Vickery played the man himself Titus Andronicus. He was perfect for the role, having the true Shakespeare voice and embracing his characters purely evil side. Alongside Vickery was Amanda Lisman who played Titus' beautiful yet early on violated daughter, Lavinia. Her performance as Lavinia was breathtaking and mesmerizing from beginning to end. Her character goes through such pain throughout the show, being raped by Tamora's remaining sons and having her hands cut off and tongue cut out. Lavinia is silent most of the show but even in silence Lisman delivered a chilling performance as a mute who will get her revenge. Completely opposite of Titus but just as perfect was Dion Johnstone playing Aaron. It was interesting to watch him in this production after watching him in our first Stratford show last year as Caliban in Shakespeare's last play The Tempest with the famed Christopher Plummer. His performance was much like The Tempest as he crawled all around the stage and used his body to show the simplest things. Together the cast worked well together and were not afraid to get their hands dirty.
Ironically, many members of the company were main characters or appeared in Richard III just a few hours earlier and had not one show of murder, but two. Watching these two shows on the same day was amazing since each have a very different story to tell and told them in very different ways. These shows back to back takes a lot of stamina and a true love for Shakespeare's tragic side.
CLIPS:
- Richard III: King Richard (Seana McKenna) testifies his love to a resentful Lady Anne (Bethany Jillard)
- Titus Andronicus: Tamora (Claire Lautier) and her two sons (Bruce Godfree, Brenda Murray) torment and abduct Lavinia (Amanda Lisman) after the death of Bassianus (Skye Brandon)
