Richard III Casebook (Andrea)

Between the notes in the program, the political ads that played before the production, and the fact-check screen that I noticed every now and then from the corner of my eye, it was clear that this weekend's Richard III was trying to make a point about propaganda. Unfortunately, that point wasn't made loudly enough to have much theatrical effect. Since seeing the play this weekend, I have been thinking about how it could be done more effectively, or at least more noticeably.

The biggest problem with this production's presentation of the fact-checks was that it wasn't integrated into the action of the play itself. The little screen on the top balcony was competing with the dynamic physical presence of the actors on the floor. I propose a new approach that would integrate the action more consistently with the political themes.

This production would need a similar set as the one used by the IU play, with a balcony or platform above the main stage. On this balcony, Shakespeare would sit at a desk, writing the play Richard III. Also appearing periodically on this balcony would be Elizabeth I. The play itself would be acted out below them on the floor, but the balcony should always remain visible to the audience. The play would proceed on the floor as if it were coming straight off the page as Shakespeare writes it, or as if it is taking place inside Shakespeare's mind as he visualizes the play to himself. Elizabeth goes on and off the balcony, sometimes standing closer to Shakespeare, sometimes farther away. At key moments like the first scene or the beginning of the battle, she might even directly interact with Shakespeare.

Evolution of Richard III

The players on the floor will enact Shakespeare's revisions to the play as he makes them. When Richard comes onstage in the first scene, he will have no disability, and he will deliver a short version of his first speech that omits the references to his body. Then Elizabeth will enter, Shakespeare will start over, and Richard will perform the speech again, this time with a slight limp and few or no omissions.

Periodically, the actors will do a scene or parts of a scene twice, showing the changes that were made to Richard's historical person in the play. His disability will become more noticeable and grotesque as the play goes on, and the actor's portrayal of him will also become less sympathetic over time. By the dream scene, he will be at his at his most hunched-looking and his arm and limp will be exaggerated. At the end of the play when Richmond speaks to his forces and Richard's former followers, he and Elizabeth will speak the lines in unison.

I hope that this approach would more successfully present Richard III as a work of political historical revision by making the Tudor monarch's latent presence in the play literal and integrating the fact-check screen with the physical action.