ATTENDANCE CARD TO THE THEATRICAL REPRESENTATION:

PREAMBLE:

Author: William Shakespeare.

Title: Richard III.

Subtitle: A tragedy.

Theatre company: Arden Productions.

Director: Chema Cardeña.

Cast: Juan Carlos Garés, Amparo Vayá, Carol Linuesa, Vicente Pastor, Esther López, Ismael Carretero, Chema Cárdena, Laura Useleti.

Artistic and technical cast: Theatre company personnel.

Date of the representation: 20/10/2005, Tuesday.

Place of the representation: theatre “L ´altre espai”. In Platero Suárez Street, nº11.

DRAMATIS PERSONAE: The characters are nine: (Cast order):

Richard: He, who is the main character, is deformed: he has a hump, he walks with a limp and he is a one-handed person. He is Duke of Gloucester, who is capable of murder in order to get the crown.

Queen Elizabeth: She is a young queen. Her dress is red.

Buckingham: He, who belongs to the nobility ( he is Duke of Buckingham), is wearing a cape and boots. He is almost amoral and ambitious person because is Richard ´s right-hand man in order to gain power.

Ratcliff: He is the messenger of the king.

Lady Anne: She, who is young, is the widow of Prince Edward. She hates Richard for the death of her husband, but Richard persuades Anne to marry him for reasons of politics.

Clarence: Richard ´s brother is murdered by Richard in order to get the power.

Richmond: He is a member of a branch of the Lancaster royal family.

Hastings: He helps Richard for his own interest.

Queen Margaret: She, who is old, is the widow of Henry and mother of the Prince Edward. She is a hysteric person who shouts a lot .

Stage manger: He, who is wearing in black, changes the atrezzo of the scenery.

SCENERY: It is austere, dark and small. The scenery is black and without nothing else than one object in each act. ( The story takes place in England in the fifteenth century).

ILLUMINATION: It is also austere. The scenery is in the darkness. Only, the characters are illuminated by spotlights only when they are talking. In each act, with the changing of the scenery the illumination is different.

COSTUMES: The costumes are period suit and, generally elegant, especially, the queens ´s costumes.

ATREZZO: The scenery is one object in each act. This atrezzo is grey and it is made by the Theatre Company because it isn´t made with real forms. The atrezzo is: a throne with a red carpet, a bath, a candelabrum and a big crucifix.

SETTING OF THE THEATRE: At the beginning the public is startled because all is in darkness and a lion roar is heard. Also, people are surprised because one male character is played by an actress. Finally, the public is surprised, when an actor appears totally naked in an act.

PERSONAL OPINION: Richard, who is deformed, sees that his brothers have power and he is capable of murder to becomes king of England. I think this adaptation of the Shakespeare ´s play is very good because it has resulted to be a great play. I like it very much because it is enjoyable in spite of being a tragedy. In my opinion, the actors played very well. For me it is like they were, really, the characters.

Ana Calatayud Moreno – Teatro inglés de los Siglos XIX y XX