Richard III

With the recent downfall of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, the Bridge Project’s new production of Shakespeare’s 400-year-old tragedy “Richard III” at the Brooklyn Academy of Music seems especially relevant.

Oscar-winning actor Kevin Spacey stars as the titular villain in the Sam Mendes-directed production. Spacey and Mendes previously collaborated on the 1999 Oscar-winning film “American Beauty.” The show opened on Jan. 10 and will run until March 4.

The tragedy narrates Richard, Duke of Gloucester’s despotic tenure as King of England, from his ruthless ascent to the throne to his death in battle against his successor, King Henry VII, the first monarch of the House of Tudor. Set during the aftermath of England’s War of the Roses, “Richard III” tells the story of a man who will do anything to attain power.
The play opens with Richard slouched in a chair, with a paper crown on his head. He freeze-frames footage of his brother, King Edward, then blows a party whistle and reveals to the audience his scheme to gain the throne.

Assuming Richard’s deformed stature with a hunchback, a contorted leg fixed in a calliper, a sleeve for his crippled arm and a cane, Spacey stole the show as the Machiavellian king. He impressively managed to retain his grotesque posture throughout the entire performance.

Spacey not only physically embodied his character, but he also rendered Richard with astonishing emotional complexity. An actor who plays Richard may be tempted to overact and yell most of his lines, but Spacey was often unpredictable and always convincing.

Spacey achieved this complexity partly by inserting humor into his performance. After he impales Lord Hastings’ severed head with his own cane, Spacey, in perfect comedic timing, immediately takes out his handkerchief in order to clean the cane, and then use the same handkerchief to dab his brow.

One of the show’s funniest moments occurs in the third act, when Richard is projected on a screen via video-conference. Buckingham calls Richard and “interrupts” him, as he is in the middle of a religious ritual. Buckingham stages this scene in order to make Richard appear pious while he publicly asks him to assume the throne. After faking humility, Richard assents.

Spacey also builds his rapport with the audience through Richard’s numerous soliloquies. In the first scene he introduces himself: “Since I cannot prove a lover / To entertain these fair well-spoken days, I am determined to prove a villain.” Richard’s character often breaks the fourth wall, inviting the audience to compare him to a dramatist. After all, he “lays plots” in both senses of the word.

Seemingly in cahoots with the audience, the villain charms us. But part of Spacey’s brilliance as Richard lies in his ability to both charm and frighten. He stomps, makes threats, snarls, and throws his cane.

But Spacey also manages to elicit empathy from the audience. At the end of the play, he becomes haunted by the ghosts of the people he had killed in order to further his political agenda. In the final scene, before his death, he says, “There is no creature loves me / And if I die, no soul shall pity me.”

While Spacey’s performance outshone those of the other actors, Annabel Scholey was exceptional as Lady Anne. There is a particularly difficult scene in the first act in which Richard tries to court Lady Anne, the widow of Prince Edward, whom Richard had killed. The scene begins with Lady Anne scorning Richard for killing her husband, but by the end his courtship seems to work.

The set and the costumes also “work.” The set is sparse and Orwellian—there are three walls lined with 18 doors. In some scenes, bright light emanates from the open doors and projects harsh shadows on the walls. Paint peels off of the walls, reflecting the ruin of the English state. When Richard gives a speech as King, the walls open up and a giant portrait looms behind him. Foreboding drums punctuate the end of each scene.

The men in the cast wear military garb and business suits. Mendes adds to the play’s modern flair with his use of video footage. Overall, the set and costumes consistently remind the audience of the play’s relevance to contemporary politics.