Presented by Die Schaubuhne Berlin and Adelaide Festival
Reviewed 3 March 2017
Shakespeare left us in no doubt that Richard is a villain, a homicidal tyrant who left a trail of bodies in his wake. Thomas Ostermeier takes a fresh look at this infamous character and plays more on the reasons for his discontent.
The setting is raw, not Elizabethan, and not modern though it hints at both. The varying levels of entrances and exits on a two level set which uses part of the auditorium as well as its many doors and ladders, allows free flowing movement when necessary There are no rich costumes, but the clothing is coincidental, just enough to delineate characters and wealth.
It is performed for the most part in German, with the use of surtitles; a carefully edited and translated script easy to follow. The ensemble is very strong, but a great technical team backs it. The lighting enhanced the scenes and the use of various subtle projections on the wall encouraged the required atmosphere. Small touches were evident and effective, like the use of a flock of black bird shadows suggesting the ravens at the Tower of London. The use of small mannequins to play the young princes (moved and given voice by the actors) was clever. It elicited a few giggles at first but was quickly accepted.
From the beginning, the major parts of the text were accompanied by the drums of Thomas Witte, assailing the audience with the ferociousness of his attack; at times making the audience feel it was under attack. Though most of the ensemble is not mentioned in the information supplied, the characters were well defined, especially the ladies – some of the more difficult roles.
Without doubt Lars Ediner playing Richard, commands the stage, as he should. Richard was a man physically deformed by reason of his birth, and mentally damaged by the circumstances he found himself in. Youngest son, fated never to inherit, ugly and misshapen; shunned as an outcast at court. Ediner conveys all of this in his interpretation. He shows us the charm of the man, the swift changes he was prone to and his lack of trust, which ultimately left him no one to trust.
Wearing a leather hump and helmet, his entrance on the stage amongst the flurry of excitement and noise after the final victory of the War of the Roses, is down beat, retiring almost, but his scheming starts. This Richard is mesmerising and his bawdy comic charm does not reduce his powerful presence. Even naked he never appears vulnerable, always moving to the next plot, the next target. That is until the brilliant dream scene, where he is tormented by his victims, which was beautifully handled and led to the unexpected delivery of the play’s most famous line, as if in a dream.
In all of this production, Ediner enthralled the audience while he joked (sometimes in English), made speeches or rapped on the microphone suspended above the stage, from which he swung over the audience and which held a camera to give spooky up close shots in his most delirious moments. This production was spellbinding and is well worth taking the time to hunt down a ticket: you won’t get the chance again!
Reviewed by Fran Edwards
Twitter: @franeds
Venue: Her Hajesty’s Theatre, Grote St
Season: 3– 9 Mar
Duration: 2hrs 30 mins – No Interval
Tickets: $64 – $99
Bookings: BASS
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