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 The TheatreguideLondon Review

Richard III
Young Vic Spring 2001

Richard III is a fun play. The bad guy is so clever, so witty, so audacious, so good at being bad, that watching the progress of his villainy is a delightful vacation from our more moral selves. And the bad guy almost gets away with it, going from triumph to triumph until nemesis finally catches up to him.

The pleasures are multiplied if you have also seen the RSC's accompanying productions of the three Henry VI plays to which this is a sequel. Not only will you know all the background, but you will have the pleasure of watching performers who have developed their characterizations over the larger arc.

(Those seeing only Richard III might not even notice the silent figures who wander through several key scenes; they're a director's interpolation, the ghosts of characters from the preceding plays, and for those who have seen the whole series, they carry bushels of emotional associations.)

This is true even though this is not one of the great productions of the play; indeed, it comes as a bit of an anticlimax after the Henry trilogy. The problem lies, as it must, in the Richard. Aiden McArdle has much of Richard's wit and infectious self-delight, but the mesmerising satanic energy essential to the character is beyond his scope. This Richard simply isn't enough of a monster to seem like an irresistible force threatening the moral fabric of the cosmos. He isn't even particularly strong in his interaction with others.

The famous wooing of Lady Anne is an example. As a demonstration of Richard's power, Shakespeare has him make love to the widow of a man he killed, and succeed. But Aislin McGuckin's rather phlegmatic Anne gives no indication of being overpowered by his energy or magnetism or sexuality. She resists his blandishments and only seems to bend so far as to agree to hear him further. Much the same is true of the parallel scene with Elizabeth (Elaine Pyke), who actually dominates their big scene together before inexplicably caving in at the end.

One problem is that McArdle affects the whining, self-depreciating manner of a Jewish comedian. A colleague commented that he was impersonating Ron Moody's Fagin, and threatened to break into a chorus of "You've got to pick a pocket or two" at any moment. For me, a come-and-go effeminacy to his Richard raised unfortunate memories of Richard Dreyfuss in The Goodbye Girl; combined with the Yiddish inflections, it suggested Joan Rivers. And I'm sorry - be it Moody, Dreyfuss or Rivers, that characterization just is not scary enough to be a Richard.

There are some strong performances. Fiona Bell's Margaret, a holdover from the Henry plays, is now a full-blown madwoman, carting her son's bones around in a sack and savouring the taste of her curses before spitting them out. Deirdra Morris is a dignified Duchess and Elaine Pyke a strong Elizabeth; the scene in which they turn to Margaret to be schooled in cursing Richard is the play's most chilling. Richard Cordery is a strong presence as Buckingham, and Rhashan Stone is acceptable if not special as Clarence.

I should stress that the play itself is so good that even a less-than-ideal production can carry the day. I have no doubt that someone seeing the play for the first time, with no sense of what is missing, would enjoy it. And I unreservedly applaud the RSC for their ambitious project of doing all eight of Shakespeare's Richard/Henry plays in a single season. If the final play of the cycle proves to be the weakest, it is being measured by the very high standard of the others.

Gerald Berkowitz

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Review - Richard III - RSC Young Vic 2001