'Richard III' is razor-sharp
Don't come to Strawdog Theatre's bracing "Richard III" expecting to see Shakespeare's most beguiling villain hunchbacked and shuffling, withered arm limp at his side. Evil gets no such physical manifestation in the hands of director Nic Dimond and John Henry Roberts, who plays the duke determined to be king.
Except for a clenched left fist, Roberts displays no visible evidence of Richard's distorted psyche. It's not what audiences are accustomed to, but relieving the character of his trappings suits this most subtle fiend, whose true self is revealed not through his malformed body, but through his calculating, ruthless behavior. Richard ranks among Shakespeare's most mesmerizing characters. Glib and seductive, he's also merciless. The actor playing him has to convey those dualities. He must enthrall and repulse. Roberts -- who looks like a waif and acts like a killer -- does so admirably.
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This "Richard" marks the latest in a series of Shakespeare re-imaginings by Chicago-area theaters . Less radical than Charles Newell's provoking "Titus Andronicus" for Court Theatre and more obvious than William Brown's elegant, seasoned "As You Like It" for Writers' Theatre, Dimond's reasoned, reasonable approach works.
The production reflects the company's trademark approach to Shakespeare, which involves paring the text to its essentials. The result is a crisp, contemporary adaptation that comes in at an unheard-of two hours and 15 minutes. But Dimond's prudently trimmed and tweaked, briskly paced production is no speed-through. It's a tightly focused show, propelled by a primed, well-rehearsed cast and Miles Polaski's slashing, propulsive score that pairs orchestral pomp with angry guitars to great effect.
It unfolds in a less than ideal space where inconvenient ceiling supports obscure actors, muffle dialogue and make for generally awkward sightlines. As always, the designers make it work. Joe Schermoly's bleak set, with its Gothic arches and mirrored doors, makes an appropriately hostile backdrop for the tragedy. Seth Reinick's stark, counter-intuitive lighting (which emanates from ground level and behind the audience) is brilliant. The heavy shadows it casts suit the mood perfectly.
This "Richard III" focuses like a laser on the power struggles within the extended family of the Yorkist King, Edward IV (a wan Noah Simon, making the most of his one big scene). Having prevailed over the Lancastrians, the ailing Edward now presides over domestic squabbles pitting his politic wife Elizabeth (a rock-solid performance from Jennifer Avery), her brother Rivers (Sean Sinitski) and her adult sons from her previous marriage Gray (Michael Shields) and Dorset (Chase Barhorst) against Edward's siblings: unfailingly decent Clarence (a gentle, rumpled Anderson Lawfer) and calculating Richard (Roberts affecting the right combination of self-loathing and supreme confidence).
His brothers' intellectual superior, Richard is the youngest and has little hope of ascending the throne legitimately. So he takes it by cunning and force, killing everyone who gets in his way: his brother; his young nephews and the kingdom's rightful heirs; and his wife Anne (a decorous Anita Deely, whose Anne never feels like a pushover). Helping to carry out the carnage is Richard's "other self," the clever Buckingham (a slick, nicely ambivalent James Anthony Zoccoli). And observing it all from the shadows is Margaret (Janet Ulrich Brooks in a raw, blistering performance), vengeful widow of the slain Lancaster king whose curses prove prophetic. After losing everything -- her family, home, title -- Margaret remains every inch a queen, and the crimson-cloaked Brooks commands the stage like one.
"Richard III"
3#189;
stars out of four
Location: Strawdog Theatre, 3829 N. Broadway St., Chicago
Times: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays; 7 p.m. Sundays through March 29; also 8 p.m. March 3, 13, 24 and 27
Running Time: About 2 hours, 15 minutes with intermission
Tickets: $15-$30
Parking: Limited street parking
Box office: (773) 528-9696 or strawdog.org
Rating: Suitable for teens and older