An addendum to my comments last week *13.
Astonished that I overlooked Derek Jacobi as Richard II as he has the mercurial temperament and hauteur for the role. I recall a production at the Phoenix Theatre with John Gielgud as John o' Gaunt, probably during his RSC years when his roles also included Cyrano de Bergerac, Much Ado, and The Tempest, an actor in his prime. Another diversion as I intended to use his biography, As Luck Would Have It, Harper Collins, 2013, for quick reference and two hours later...:blush
A longer distraction, too, when I unearthed an off-air,BBC4, DVD Richard II recording, (7 Sept 2003), which had the merit of a 35mins pre-performance discussion with presenter, Andrew Marr, taking in a tour of the Globe Theatre, South Bank location, which included a worm's eye view of backstage ritual and warm-up routine by the cast on the stage which adds a sense of inclusiveness to the early arrivals at the theatre, including the groundlings!
The wide stage area, dominated by two central pillars, looks handsome with a stage centre box at the first level for the musicians who remain seated throughout the action and their flourishes add much atmospheric charm, too. Intrigued by the choreography which encouraged movement in a figure 8 direction round the central pillars throughout. Several compulsive interviews with Corin Redgrave - his father, Michael, my first 'Richard II' at Stratford in 1951 - and Zoe Wanamaker whose father, Sam, (1919-1993) came to our shores in the post WW2 era, seeking refuge from McCarthyism in the States but focussed his ambitions on a resurrected Globe Theatre, as well as promoting his notion of Stanislavskian principles acquired in his early years in New York theatre. My generation latched on his vision and I still have a worn copy of Michael Redgrave's memoir, Mask or Face, (1959) on my shelves. Redgrave snr and Wanamaker co-starred in Clifford Odets, The Country Girl, St James's Th, (1953), and their use of improvised sequences became a talking point among students for the next decade, probably the most electric moments I can still recall.
Mark Rylance tackled Richard II at The Globe, certainly not among my favourite interpretations, no poetry whatsover, yet he fascinates as one of our most creative actors today. He certainly eschews sentimentality en route but I do squirm as he milks the text for easy laughs, viz, during the deposition he prevaricates between renouncing his divine right to rule and giving up his crown, Act IV, Sc 1, "Ay, no; -no ay; for I must nothing be:..."and gets huge laughs with the timing. Same slickness in Act III, Sc IV, referring to his gravestone, "...And my large kingdom for a little grave, A little little grave, an obscure grave -..." I could see him gauging the pauses!
Technically brilliant but I wish the director had intervened with a "NO,NO, - NO,NO, Mark...!" or, as Tyrone Guthrie used to say during any stalemate in late afternoon rehearsals, "Enough, go home, think about it, come back in the morning and astonish us".
Some neat playing in an all-male cast. Not for one moment was I distracted by male actors playing, say, Queen or the Duchess of York, no pantomime tendencies. Good to see John McEnery, a fine character actor as John o' Gaunt, finally destroyed by Richard's overgrown schoolboy savagely pounding him, Act II, Sc1,..."And, thou, a lunatic lean-witted fool, Presuming on an agues privilege...", a disturbing moment where you can feel the shock factor of the audience. The final curtain-call masque dance, led by Richard II, even gets a warm round of applause when Richard & Bolingbroke turn and bow to each other, providing an exhilarating climate to send the audience on their way.
Astonished that I overlooked Derek Jacobi as Richard II as he has the mercurial temperament and hauteur for the role. I recall a production at the Phoenix Theatre with John Gielgud as John o' Gaunt, probably during his RSC years when his roles also included Cyrano de Bergerac, Much Ado, and The Tempest, an actor in his prime. Another diversion as I intended to use his biography, As Luck Would Have It, Harper Collins, 2013, for quick reference and two hours later...:blush
A longer distraction, too, when I unearthed an off-air,BBC4, DVD Richard II recording, (7 Sept 2003), which had the merit of a 35mins pre-performance discussion with presenter, Andrew Marr, taking in a tour of the Globe Theatre, South Bank location, which included a worm's eye view of backstage ritual and warm-up routine by the cast on the stage which adds a sense of inclusiveness to the early arrivals at the theatre, including the groundlings!
The wide stage area, dominated by two central pillars, looks handsome with a stage centre box at the first level for the musicians who remain seated throughout the action and their flourishes add much atmospheric charm, too. Intrigued by the choreography which encouraged movement in a figure 8 direction round the central pillars throughout. Several compulsive interviews with Corin Redgrave - his father, Michael, my first 'Richard II' at Stratford in 1951 - and Zoe Wanamaker whose father, Sam, (1919-1993) came to our shores in the post WW2 era, seeking refuge from McCarthyism in the States but focussed his ambitions on a resurrected Globe Theatre, as well as promoting his notion of Stanislavskian principles acquired in his early years in New York theatre. My generation latched on his vision and I still have a worn copy of Michael Redgrave's memoir, Mask or Face, (1959) on my shelves. Redgrave snr and Wanamaker co-starred in Clifford Odets, The Country Girl, St James's Th, (1953), and their use of improvised sequences became a talking point among students for the next decade, probably the most electric moments I can still recall.
Mark Rylance tackled Richard II at The Globe, certainly not among my favourite interpretations, no poetry whatsover, yet he fascinates as one of our most creative actors today. He certainly eschews sentimentality en route but I do squirm as he milks the text for easy laughs, viz, during the deposition he prevaricates between renouncing his divine right to rule and giving up his crown, Act IV, Sc 1, "Ay, no; -no ay; for I must nothing be:..."and gets huge laughs with the timing. Same slickness in Act III, Sc IV, referring to his gravestone, "...And my large kingdom for a little grave, A little little grave, an obscure grave -..." I could see him gauging the pauses!
Technically brilliant but I wish the director had intervened with a "NO,NO, - NO,NO, Mark...!" or, as Tyrone Guthrie used to say during any stalemate in late afternoon rehearsals, "Enough, go home, think about it, come back in the morning and astonish us".Some neat playing in an all-male cast. Not for one moment was I distracted by male actors playing, say, Queen or the Duchess of York, no pantomime tendencies. Good to see John McEnery, a fine character actor as John o' Gaunt, finally destroyed by Richard's overgrown schoolboy savagely pounding him, Act II, Sc1,..."And, thou, a lunatic lean-witted fool, Presuming on an agues privilege...", a disturbing moment where you can feel the shock factor of the audience. The final curtain-call masque dance, led by Richard II, even gets a warm round of applause when Richard & Bolingbroke turn and bow to each other, providing an exhilarating climate to send the audience on their way.
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