Culture Watch: Richard II
Jonathan Bailey takes centre-stage.
The Life and Death of King Richard the Second - generally referred to simply as Richard II - is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1595.
Shakespeare wrote this as a series of history plays about successive English monarchs - Richard II was followed by plays about his successors, Henry IV (Part 1), Henry IV (Part 2), and Henry V.
Richard II ruled England from 1377–1399, and the play chronicles his downfall, focusing on the final two years of his life, 1398 to 1400. In the theatrical sense, it is a tragedy.
It is perhaps not one of the better-known of Shakespeare's plays but it has been performed regularly and is seen as a showcase for the actor playing Richard. Actors such as John Gielgud, Ian McKellen, Derek Jacobi, Mark Rylance, Eddie Redmayne, and David Tennant have all won plaudits for the portrayal of the king.
Which brings us to the current production at the Bridge Theatre in London. Directed by Nicholas Hytner, Jonathan Bailey takes the role of Richard II.
Hytner has given this production an almost-contemporary setting - it seems to be the early 2000s with the actions unfolding in the boardrooms and bars of London's financial district.
As a new-build theatre, the Bridge enabled Hytner to use simple but clever staging to seamlessly transition between scenes.
Hytner opted for some gender-blind casting but only for roles that made some sense with the 90s setting - the Bishop of Carlisle and also the noble, Green.
Shakespeare gives us Richard II as a flawed man - capricious, vain, self-serving, but quick-witted. It's an energy that Bailey easily embodies.
There are some sharp lines in this play that allow for moments of humour, although it felt like the audience were looking for laughs - Bailey is known for his comedic roles although he also has a lot of serious theatre under his belt. That sometimes made it difficult to build any dramatic tension in the narrative.
Bailey's performance is impressive but the overall production sits a little uncomfortably with the contemporary staging - because it's not one thing or the other. You can see how making this a boardroom drama yet retaining all of the original language would make sense, however we still have Richard arriving on a boat from Ireland, and Bullingbrook (a compelling performance by Royce Pierreson) hauling up some light infantry. The intention of the storytelling seems a little confused.
Shakespeare wrote Richard II near the end of the reign of Elizabeth I. At the time, it was seen as a commentary on the need for stable succession amidst a period of uncertainty. Perhaps Hytner is giving us Richard II as Tony Blair, but that feels dated - not urgent, not now. Even if he'd given us Richard II as Boris Johnson it would have felt like yesterday's news. But something like that might have made more sense than the direction that has been taken.
Regardless, this is a solid production of a tricky play and its a fantastic opportunity to see Jonathan Bailey taking centre-stage.
Richard II is on at the Bridge Theatre in London until 10 May
The NSFW edition
If you want to admire some man-on-man action, our NSFW edition gives you every inch.
Sign in and check out our NSFW content - it's free!
Gaydar
