Richard III At The Commandery

Article from pages 20 - 21 of Dickon Independent issue 46

Lesley and I went to see Heartbreak Productions’ version of “Richard III” in the grounds of the Commandery on August 17th. Val and family, and Jane and June, had braved earlier performances elsewhere, and had warned us about THE BIRTHMARK, covering half his face. Poor Richard! That must be the director’s interpretation of Shakespeare’s “Cheated of feature by dissembling nature”.

The cast of six, plus the director’s two daughters who played the princes, did a good job, but I can never enjoy seeing Richard behave like this.

The actor playing Richard was certainly “...curtail’d of this fair proportion”, but this only became apparent in the battle scene, when Henry Tudor towered over him. A very effective device.

Anyone keen to find out more would need to read the programme carefully to spot the following paragraph: “Shakespeare’s Richard III is a dramatic event and not an historical re-enactment. It is well documented that he used considerable dramatic licence for the purpose of entertainment. For a more historical background, the Richard III Society may be contacted at 4, Oakley Street, London, SW3 5NN or at www.richardiii.net.”

Pam Benstead

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