Imagine the pressure a British director must feel, preparing for a revival of a Shakespeare play! To find a new concept, a new approach, all while trying to avoid repeating what another director has done with that same play last season with a new aesthetic that will captivate today’s audience.
Pondering this challenge is what makes me admire two new Shakespeare productions on the London stage this season. Each has taken a radically different approach, and the results are striking. It’s worth crossing the ocean just to see them. Hopefully, as is often the case, they will eventually make their way to New York City. Fingers crossed!
Richard II. Through May 10 at the Bridge Theatre, London.
(*****/***** Five stars out of five)
Nicholas Hytner is one of the few contemporary directors who truly respects Shakespeare. With his current Richard II, his concept is to defer to the Bard completely and let his immortal language take center stage. As the artistic director of the cavernous Bridge Theatre with its in-the-round configuration (no proscenium, no entrances/exits, no wings), he turns its adversities into advantages. He and his designer Bob Crowley provide no structural set, so every entrance the ensemble makes is a dramatic ceremonial occasion. The minimal design elements–like the glittering chandeliers that are initially lowered–are meticulously chosen and spectacularly theatrical, to illustrate the power of the monarchy that soon will be overturned. Hytner uses platforms that suddenly rise from under the stage floor—with actors sparring unto death, to produce a thrilling dramatic effect, heightening the stakes in this story of the monarchy’s fragility.
This starkness serves to illuminate the crisis of the characters in conflict. Richard II is a complex king with whom it is hard to sympathize. As played by Jonathan Bailey, however, we agonize with him in that traumatic scene where the deposed monarch holds out his golden crown, glittering against the stark black void, to his opponent, Henry Bolingbroke, Duke of Hereford (Royce Pierreson) to whom he must cede the throne. “My God,” cries Richard, “this is a strange and fickle land, which has exiled, slain, destroyed and ruined so many kings, so many rulers and great men.” His speech resonates sharply today.
This memorable production at the Bridge Theatre— across the river from the infamous Tower where King Richard II was taken after his fall—should remind us of the fragility of the “hollow crown” that all our world leaders wear today.
Much Ado About Nothing. Through April 5 at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London.
(*****/***** Five stars out of five)
Like Hytner, the daring director Jamie Lloyd has seized upon one huge dramatic idea for his sensational Much Ado About Nothing, now playing at London’s Theatre Royal Drury Lane. In short, it’s a rock-fest in celebration of love. A giant floor-to-ceiling, heart-shaped balloon dominates the empty stage set designed by Soutra Gilmour. Deafening rock music and gyrating spotlights greet you when you enter the theater and continues throughout the show. Pink confetti also continuously rains down. The exuberant ensemble dances non-stop, and the hyped-up audience can’t resist leaping to its feet and joining in.
But don’t worry, you’ll hear Shakespeare’s immortal words loud and clear. The actors are all “miked,” and their skill with the Bard’s language is commanding, particularly the famous war of words between the lovers. As Beatrice, Hayley Atwell is a spirited “lady of disdain,” and Tom Hiddleston is a charming Benedick, her reluctant suitor. Lloyd milks the comedic moments (he has Hiddleston unbutton his shirt as he flirts, while this classically trained actor actually radiates genuine embarrassment in doing so), and Mara Huf and James Phoon play the parallel pair of “hip” lovers, Hero and Claudio, respectively.
Benedick’s closing words, “For man is a giddy thing,” could be describing Jamie Lloyd as well. This high-concept director has made an indelible impression on New York audiences with his radical renderings of A Doll’s House, Cyrano, and Sunset Boulevard that have crossed the pond recently. Sing “hey nonny nonny” along with the cast, and hope this one arrives here soon, too.
