Author: William Shakespeare

Title: Richard III

Theatre company: Arden productions

Director of the play: Chema Cardeña

Cast: Juan Carlos Garés as Richard, Amparo Vayá as Reina Elizabeth, Carol Linuesa as Buckingham, Vicente Pastor as Ratcliff, Esther López as Lady Anne, Ismael Carretero as Clarence/Richmond, Chema Cardeña as Hastings and Laura Useleti as Reina Margaret.

Artistic and technical cast: Chema Cardeña (adaptation of the text), Del Busto & Monterde (set), Ximo Rojo (illumination), Pascual Peris (wardrobe), Gilles Martin/ Ximo Rojo (sonorous space), Antonio Martinez /Maria Poquet ( voice in off), Inma Fuentes (characterization), Maque Falgás (photographs), Cabeza Liquida S.L (video), Asaltinbankis (graphic design), Ximo Rojo/ Pere Morant (technic coordination), Pila Mohedano (stage manager), Juan Carlos Garés ( production design), Elba Torres ( executive production), Carlos Galiana ( production assistant), David Campillos (distribution), Mer Badía (administration), María Poquet ( direction assistant), Chema Cardeña (dramaturgy and direction).

Date and place of publication:

Dramatis personae: as we can observe, in this work appear 9 characters. First I will speak about the main character, Richard. He is a short, deformed and ugly man, and he has a hard look. He is an envious and evil man whose only objective is to rob the power of his brothers and to be crowned king of England, for it, he carries out a series of murders ( He kills his brother, his sisters-in-law and his nephews). During the course of the play we observe a very expressive actor on stage, whose tones of voice increase when he talks to the public. His form to dress, various not a lot save when he is crowned he puts on a coat. I will speak now about the queens. Elizabeth queen is a thin and young woman. She wears a red dress during all the play. Her tone of voice is always the same, excepting moments in which she increase it due to her fights with Richard. Of the queen Margaret , (ex-queen of England) I will say that she is older than Elizabeth. Her aspect is untidy, and she is very serious. She wears an old dress with a long layer. Her tone of voice is low and she moves on the stage with great slowness due to her advanced age. Another character is Lady Anne. She is a young, dark and thin woman. She wears a pink dress during all the play. She is apparently a happy girl until the death of her husband when she changes the expression of her face. She becomes a sad person. The tone of her voice is a normal tone, and I must emphasize that great part of the play she is crying for the death of her loved one. I will speak now about Buckingham ( cousin of RIII). She is a girl, but she performs as a boy. He is a blond and a thin boy. He wears brown clothes and brown boots. He is a serious man and he get on well with Richard (save in the end of the play). His tone of voice is high.

Clarence (brother of Richard) is a thin man. He wears ancient clothes.

To sum up I will speak about Ratcliff, Richmond and Hastings. They all are assistants of Richard and they obey his orders. They are serious people. And they wear ancient clothes too.

In general, all actors interpret their roles very well. And the staging is brilliant.

Space: the space of the play is empty and undefined. In it, we see the characters. The setting on stage is brilliant, and there is any decoration.

Illumination: play on lights with some colours such as; green, blue, yellow…In the theatre there are 100 focus more than less. At the beginning of the play there aren’t illumination. All is dark, and then, the colour of the lights changes.

Wardrobe: the characters wear clothes of that epoch

Atrezzo: there are few objects on the stage. Only a bath, a throne of the queen appear… in some scenes. Some candles appear to illuminate the stage in one of the scenes.

Environment of the theatre: the main character addresses the public. And he makes public accomplices of them and of his acts. The spectator is invited to know Richard, and to know his troubles with his aspect. The public reacts with a total attention during the play. And they are plotted in it. A thing to emphasize is the nudity of a character which caused surprise in the public.

Personal opinion: RIII is an intriguing and interesting play. In spite of the fact that I prefer the comedies, I must say that this play is good due to the fact that the characters tell us a cruel history whose actors represent of very real form. I think that seeing this play we can know a part the history England of.