Theatre lights dim, the stage is black and a single spotlight shines on a misshapen Richard III. The spotlight goes out and a rush of lights and powerful, drum-heavy music fill the stage — then the Battle of Tewkesbury ensues. Jeremy Hutton’s vision of a play that reflects the malicious inner workings of Richard III’s twisted mind begins with the killing of Henry VI, and though this battle is not a part of Shakespeare’s original Richard III but rather from the end scene of Henry VI Part III, Hutton’s choice to begin the tale of a murderous tyrant with his first murder seems quite fitting. This is not the only choice on Hutton’s part that makes this theatre going experience unique — the extensive use of lighting and sound shape and develop the play to the extent that they become as prominent as the characters they highlight.
Throughout the play Hutton uses sound to accentuate mood; lighting creates a series of montage-like scenes, and Hutton even ventures to play with recorded sound and acting doubles to allow his actors to travel from one spot to another in impossible time. Though the strong presence of these effects can at times become overwhelming or even cheesy — Queen Elizabeth in spotlight, silently wailing while heavy drums play over the speakers comes off as overdramatic and somewhat contrived — for the most part these elements feed the dramatic and humorous qualities of the play. Sound, and its contrasting silence, is particularly used to its full effect in Richard’s speeches, highlighting the scheming qualities of his soliloquies and adding a mischievous humour in his asides to the audience. Richard’s cunning deceptiveness is even made humorous to the extent that it could be likened to the comedic duplicity of Ferris Bueller.
The music further produces a Celtic, ritualistic undertone, pervasive throughout the play, particularly in Queen Margaret’s scenes. Hutton’s set and costume design is simple — a dead forest lies in the background throughout the entire three hour play and the costumes are abstract Elizabethan, leaving the play’s specific time and place ambiguous.
![alt text][1It is often the case that if a reviewer spends a significant portion of time highlighting sound and lighting it is because compliments cannot be found elsewhere in the production. This was far from the case in Richard III, so I feel I should pause from blathering on about the brilliant use of lighting and sound and give the cast their due. Richard’s scheming soliloquies work well because Andre Sills instills the part with morbid villainy and delivers his ominous lines with quick wit and bite. The actor’s dominating presence on stage perfectly suits that of a tyrannous ruler. I am, however, unsure of whether the actor slips in his speech on more than one occasion due to nerves or because the character is meant to be played with a speech impediment. If it is the latter, he should have played this aspect more boldly.
Annemieke Wade’s Queen Margaret and Neil Silcox’s Duke of Buckingham also give remarkable performances that deserve mention, and Jim Armstrong and Andrew Knowlton play excellent bumbling henchmen to Richard. The cast neither falters nor stumbles in their performance, including the two younger performers Nathan Wilson and Ian Hanson, playing Edward IV’s children.
The overall effect of Hutton’s Richard III is a powerful one, and the experience is enjoyable. Each element of the play works to produce a morose vision of the world as seen through the eyes of a disturbed man. A quite refreshing aspect of this production is that its architects managed to incorporate original modern techniques to the popular Shakespearean tragedy without falling back on the old switching leotards to jeans and castles to subways trick.
Richard III runs until October 2nd at Hart House Theatre.
