I was so excited for this production, I love Richard III and have historically been a fan of Michelle Terry's work, and in theory I should love an all female/nonbinary production, but this was just not it for me. This production was controversial before Michelle Terry ever put on the silicone chest
piece, starting with the artistic decision to cast an able-bodied actor as Richard. I'm not going to get into that issue, because it's rather nuanced and complicated, but for the sake of my review, that was the least of my concerns.
Initially when the casting for this production was announced and there was a lot of controversy about Michelle Terry playing Richard, the Globe said that they weren't going to give Richard a physical disability. Well, they didn't lie. In fact, they completely removed most (if not all ) of the textual references to disability in this play, which then created the issue of Richard's motivations. HOWEVER, upon seeing this show, it became more and more apparent that Richard's disability had been substituted for masculinity, in a way that was piggish, brash, crude, and don't forget a carbon-copy of Trump (but with a 6-pack and obnoxious codpiece). Upon reading the dramaturgy for the production, I got a more academic understanding of where they were coming from, it was a commentary on male dictators and the question of "when a man obtains tyrannical power, and he uses that power to abuse the women around him, at what point do we stand against him?" Now, I LOVE this question and concept, and I think Richard III is a great
play to explore that with, but I quite frankly found Michelle Terry's Trump impression to be boarish, overdone and, quite frankly, insulting. I am all for feminist Shakespeare, it's probably the area of study that I am most passionate about, but this production was just cringy and unfunny at the best of times. As an audience, we're supposed to take Richard seriously, but it's difficult to do that when Michelle Terry is waltzing around the stage for the majority of the production in a plastic man's chest shirt and a Henry VIII reminiscent codpiece. Her erratic and abusive behavior maintained the sense of fear we should have about Richard, but I was honestly just so distracted by the overtly obnoxious Trump imagery and how severely it degraded men. Let's even take away the misandry issue for a second, I personally feel like I am sick and tired of seeing Trump in my Shakespeare, and I know this probably isn't going to stop anytime soon, but I think it is just so overdone and tired, like do something unique. So to summarize, I love the intention, but I despised the execution.
I thought the rest of the cast was wonderful, I always enjoy watching Helen Schlesinger (especially when her and Michelle get to act together, they really do have great chemistry). I thought Marianne Oldham was wonderful as Elizabeth, she's so regal. I enjoyed Katie Erich's performance as Lady Anne, and Poppy Miller as my absolute favorite reoccurring #girlboss Margaret. The murderer's pig masks were a lot, but honestly worked. The ending felt super rushed and out of nowhere and I don't understand how you can do a production of Richard III without "a horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse!" Overall it just wasn't my favorite interpretation and really missed the mark of what could've been a really cool concept.
Rating: 2.5/5
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