This Richard III needs a twist of evil
ROBERT GORE-LANGTON
Richard III
Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon Until October 8, 3hrs 10mins ★★★☆☆
A Doll’s House, Pt 2
Donmar Warehouse, London
Until August 6, 3hrs 40mins ★★★★☆
Arthur Hughes is the first actor with a disability to play Richard III at Stratford. He was born with a short right arm, which enhances the rather vague description of Richard’s physique in the text.
Hughes is a good middlerank Richard. He does the job. This production, directed by Gregory Doran, may well prove a turning point in the role’s history. It is the fervent hope of the RSC that no actor who is not ‘limb different’ will be seen as Richard III again.
The late Antony Sher, who made his name in Stratford as Richard, acted the life out of every twisted inch of the part in 1984 and set a generational benchmark of flamboyant brilliance. I saw him play it twice: it’s among my most treasured stage memories.
But it will be a loss if no future actor of Sher’s broiling talent will have a chance to play one of the most theatrical villains ever written. I wonder what the paying public thinks of the theatre’s newfound censoriousness.
Hughes is caustic and funny but I also felt that an unwanted decency seeps out of his portrayal. Kenneth Branagh suffered from the same problem in the role, as did Mark Rylance, who had all the evil charisma of a Blue Peter presenter.
Kirsty Bushell adds value as the morally revolted Queen Elizabeth, but for all the visually inventive flare of this version, it doesn’t rise above a decent stab.
A Doll’s House, Part 2 at the Donmar is a sequel to Ibsen’s masterpiece, in which Nora famously slams the door on her husband and children. Nineteenth Century Europe fainted with collective shock. Now, in this concoction by US writer Lucas Hnath, staged in period costume but written in modern language, Nora goes home. She has unfinished business with her ex.
Might Nora have been better off had she stayed? The insinuation plants itself and won’t go away.
The excellent cast of four has Brian F. O’Byrne as Nora’s crusty husband,
June Watson as the disgruntled housekeeper, and Patricia Allison as Nora’s perceptive, now grown-up daughter. Noma Dumezweni is in effortless command as Nora, across whose face flit fresh realisations about the road she chose.
A short, sharp, clever sequel; and no, it doesn’t matter if you don’t know the original.