After Shakespeare: Richard III
★★☆☆☆ Flat
theSpaceTriplex (Venue 38): Fri 2 – Sat 24 Aug 2024
Review by Rebecca Mahar
Billed as a staunch defence of a man maligned by Shakespeare and history alike, After Shakespeare: Richard III from Slade Wolfe Enterprises Limited succeeds only in making a rather boring play out of what was an extraordinary life.
It’s well known that Shakespeare, who had no scruples about letting truth get in the way of a good story, and plenty of reasons to butter up his monarch, wrote some of the most enduring propaganda about Richard III.
Lexi Wolfe and Adam Phelan. Pic: Slade Wolfe Enterprises Limited.
His play on the monarch’s ruthless ascent to the throne and death at the hands of his successor Henry Tudor has shaped much of the popular perception of Richard as evil, murderous, and deformed. However, it’s one thing to push back against propaganda, and another entirely to declare that no word of it could possibly have been true.
After Shakespeare: Richard III seems to be making just such a statement, despite its incongruous title – declaring something ‘after’ something else is generally meant to indicate its derivation from, relation to, inspiration by, or imitation of, that thing. The only way this play relates to Shakespeare’s is the company’s insistence that he was wrong, while using his name for the recognition it gets.
Playwright Lexi Wolfe’s script isn’t exactly bad, but requires anyone who isn’t already quite familiar with Shakespeare’s Richard III, Richard III’s history and the Wars of the Roses to regularly consult the wordy leaflet handed to each audience member upon arrival.
vignettes
It’s not uncommon for playbills to contain lists of acts and scenes with locations, dates, and times for each, but when each scene requires a paragraph or three of explanation in small font, it’s possible that the play-text isn’t doing quite enough work.
Written as a series of vignettes at important points in Richard’s life between 1464 and 1485, the play works to show a sympathetic view of Richard, a man caught up in extraordinary circumstances, doing the best he can. It does well to bring attention to some of the reforms Richard enacted while in power and suggest a loving view of his marriage, attempting to paint him as a peaceful and scholarly man who never wanted to be king.
Adam Phelan and Lexi Wolfe. Pic: Slade Wolfe Enterprises Limited.
Unfortunately, it does this in disjointed scenes that seem to be selected for their potential to refute Shakespeare rather than to create a cohesive narrative about a king who certainly deserves to have a more balanced drama created in his name.
Wolfe also plays every part in the show except Richard, who is portrayed by Adam Phelan. Though both actors show occasional flashes of emotion, their performances are mostly flat, exacerbated by aimless, unmotivated wandering about the small stage, whose thrust configuration seems to have been mostly unaccounted for as the two performers frequently end up blocking each other from the side.
potential
Excessive use of pauses sucks any energy that might have been built out of the room, and diffuses any tension that might have created stakes, which are strangely absent from a play dealing with such tumultuous times.
Phelan and Wolfe both have a good scene late in the play, when Queen Anne is dying, and Richard is forced to confront both mortality and his own legacy. A long slow blackout indicating Anne’s fading spirit, followed by the ghost of a light on Phelan’s face as he speaks what will be Richard’s final words to his wife, provide an excellent technical accompaniment to a poignant scene.
This play has potential, but needs a serious reworking, as it currently falls short on both dramatic impact and its mission of rehabilitating Richard’s image.
Running time: One hour (no interval)
theSpaceTriplex (Studio), The Prince Philip Building, EH8 9DP (Venue 37)
Friday 2 – Saturday 24 August 2024
Daily: 6.05pm
Details and tickets at: Book here
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ENDS
