Richard III
Co-artistic director Geoff Elliot begins A Noise Within’s 18th Season (by my count) with an energetic, muscular production of Richard III, a play far more complicated than is generally acknowledged. Elliot’s astute editing saves the genealogy of the Houses of Lancaster and York without confusing his audience too badly. THAT is a major achievement!
But savvy management of this iconic play does not stop there. In casting ANW regular Steve Weingartner, a wiry, athletic actor, as Richard, Elliot turns the tables on the stereotypical presentation of “I, that am rudely stamped… deform’d, unfinish’d, sent before my time into this breathing world, scarce half made up” – give us a devilish prince that depends less on misshapen physicality than on twisted psyche. Weingartner as Richard is bombastic, rude and wily. This characterization exposes the influence of the medieval morality plays that lay beneath the surface of Shakespeare’s earliest work.
Weingartner is supported by ANW’s able resident players, most notably Deborah Strang, who portrays the aged Queen Margaret as a near-homeless woman bereft of all her sons. In keeping with this portrayal, Susan Angelo as Queen Elizabeth and Brady Rubin as the Duchess of York complete a picture rather like the three witches in the Scottish Play. Lenne Klingaman acquits herself well in the much-loved and difficult role of Lady Anne who must travel from hate to acquiescence in the space of a short scene. The two young princes (Arlen Smith and Nicholas Mendes) are real troupers, as well. And on opening night, the redoubtable Freddy Douglas, dynamic as Henry IV, survived not only the fictional battle of Bosworth Field, but a real wound over one eye.
But this ensemble works so well because it performs against one of the most visceral settings yet created for ANW. Darcy Scanlin’s austere background of rough-hewn steps (reminiscent of Adolph Appia’s designs), augmented by Ken Booth’s atmospheric lighting design, provides the perfect surrounding. The costumes, keyed to the actual late medieval date of the battle of Bosworth, continue the metaphor. As can be expected from ANW, this Richard III is instructive.
A Noise Within’s Richard III performs in repertory with Crime and Punishment and Noises Off at 234 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale 91204, through December 12th . See www.anoisewithin.org for complete schedule. Tickets from $40.00 to $44.00. For tickets, phone (818) 240-0910, ext. 1 or online.