Theatrical Representation Module

“R III”

“R III” is a play written by William Shakespeare. The company that represents this play, on this occasion, is Arden Producciones, whose director is Chema Cardeña. The play was performed since the 14^th October to 6^th November 2005 in L’Altre Espai, on Platero Suárez nº 11 46009 València. We saw the play on 23^rd October.

I am going to describe the characters, beginning with Richard, represented by Juan Carlos Garés. This character is ambitious, he wants to rule England and he is going to do all that he need to achieve it. He is so misshapen and ugly and he has a loud tone of voice. Concerning Queen Elizabeth (Amparo Vayá) we can say that she is a character that suffers the disgraceful acts that Richard has done to become the king. She is very beautiful, as are other characters, and this is a clear reason that leads Richard to destroy them, moreover the power that they have. Ratcliff (Vicente Pastor) is a helper of Richard. He commits the acts, like murders, to help Richard to become the king. There are other characters that are on the other side, that is to say, with Queen Elizabeth. They are Lady Anne (Esther López), Clarence and Richmond (interpreted by Ismael Carretero), Hastings (Chema Cardeña), Laura Useleti as Queen Margaret and Buckingham (Carol Linuesa).

The space in this play is very simple. It is an empty stage and the only things that appear on it is the different furniture, that is always changing because the scenes need different elements. All the scenes are performed on the same stage.

When one or more characters talk, that is to say, when a dialogue takes place, the lights go off above the characters. While the rest of characters stay in the dark. All the lights are white, and there are some shadows.

Shakespeare wrote this play, that means that it is very old and the clothing is very old too, that is to say, historical, with capes, long dresses and all kinds of old clothes.

I have talked about the empty stage, but there is some furniture that is put in some scenes and other that is no, because this furniture is always changing. We could also see a large throne, a crystal bathtub and carpet e.g..

The play was performed in a small theatre; there were not many people because that. And I think that people like the play because at the end of it we heard positive opinions about it. One general anecdote is that some people were frightened by the sound of a lion in some scenes.

I think that this performance of a Shakespeare play is very good, because the actors transmit to the people all the feelings that the characters have. With the tone voices, for example, and other signs, the actors achieved that the were able to people feel the play. The staging is good because with not a lot of furniture, lights and other elements that performances need, the actors can perform the play perfectly. We have a good feeling about the play and the actors that perform it.

To conclude, I can say that the action in the play is very much related to some aspects nowadays. People are like Richard, they are ambitious, and selfish. They want to become important and do whatever they have to do to achieve government. It is so frightening because the world is becoming more and more selfish and nobody knows how we will live together in future. It is important to realise that our society has to change its mind because being selfish or ambitious is not good. This play transmits to me this ideas and I understand the play for this ideas.