Shakespeare’s bloodiest play, directed by Gabor Tompa
The greatest villain in literary history climbs The RCI Digital Stage in director Gábor Tompa’s forceful, haunting staging of Shakespeare’s classic dissection of monstrous ambition and insatiable lust for power. Produced by The Hungarian Theater of Cluj together with Gyula Castle Theatre, directed with characteristic visionary assurance and performed with supreme skill by one of Romania’s best theatrical ensembles, this Richard III becomes the bloody spectacle of contemporary follies.
Facebook premiere on Wednesday, December 2 at 8 p.m. New York & Toronto time / 5 p.m. Los Angeles & Vancouver time. The recording will remain available on our page for 24 hours. (Please follow the link to watch.)
“Shakespeare’s bloodiest play is, paradoxically, also his most performed. The nightmare of power mania seems to be a constant of European culture, and is represented in theatre history in an immense variety, but probably never as tenebrously as in Richard III. Even Shakespeare’s happy ending can be understood as an ironic and devastating metaphor of the perpetuation of power for oneself, a power which is able to revive from its own ashes, a power which is best compared to that of the Mafias’. Excepting children – who, of course, are also killed – there isn’t a single character in this play, be they a murderer or one murdered, a man or a woman, a noble, a prince, or a commoner, who isn’t begrimed with blood. The Duke of Gloucester, who mounted the throne of England as Richard III and enjoys virtually unlimited power, explores the possibility of conquering death by challenging the limits of mankind. Behind the tyrant we see Richard the man, who wishes to surpass his condition of being a mere human being. Is it possible to defeat death by totally identifying with it? This is the question of Richard, who makes his own life the object of a completely tragic experiment in the museum of horrors called history.” - András Visky
RICHARD III
Directed by Gábor Tompa
Dramaturgy by András Visky
Performed in Hungarian with English subtitles
Set and costume design by Carmencita Brojboiu
Original music by Vasile Șirli
Choreography by Florin Fieroiu
Director's assistant: István Albu
Director's and dramaturg's assistant: Noémi Vajna
Masks by Ilona Varga-Járó
Digital media by Zsolt Tofán
Stage manager, prompter: Imola Kerezsy
Cast:
King Edward IV: Miklós Bács
Edward, Prince of Wales: József Nagy
Richard, Duke of York: Bence Visky / Bence Mányoki
Duke of Clarence: András Hatházi
Richard, Duke of Gloucester, afterwards King Richard III: Zsolt Bogdán
Young son of Clarence: Bence Mányoki / Melinda Kántor
Henry, Earl of Richmond, afterwards King Henry VII: András Buzási
Archbishop: Miklós Bács
Bishop of Ely: Szabolcs Balla
Duke of Buckingham: Sándor Keresztes
Sir William Catesby: József Bíró
Earl Rivers, brother of Queen Elizabeth: Ferenc Sinkó
Marquess of Dorset: Balázs Bodolai
Lord Grey: Róbert Laczkó Vass
Lord Hastings: Attila Orbán
Lord Stanley: Lehel Salat
First murderer, Sir Richard Ratcliff: Levente Molnár
Second murderer, sir James Tyrell: Ervin Szűcs
Sir Thomas Vaughan: Alpár Fogarasi
Lieutenant of the Tower: Lóránd Farkas
Lord Mayor of London: Ernő Galló
Citizen: Endre Senkálszky
Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of Edward IV: Imola Kézdi
Margaret of Anjou, widow of Henry VI: Hilda Péter
Duchess of York, mother of King Edward IV, Clarence, and Gloucester: Réka Csutak
Lady Anne, widow of Edward, Prince of Wales: Enikő Györgyjakab
Mrs. Shore: Tünde Skovrán
A co-production of the Hungarian Theatre of Cluj and Gyula Castle Theatre