Blogcritics The critical lens on today's culture & entertainment
Richard II
Few of Shakespeare’s title characters are as ripe for interpretation as Richard II. In Smith Street Stage’s new production of Richard II at the Mark O’Donnell Theater in Brooklyn, Theo McKenna’a flamboyant, vainglorious, funny and tragic king towers over the other characters in physical stature and in personality.
Fortunately he’s surrounded by actors who stand up and measure up in their own characterizations. This is a solid and fairly straightforward Richard II, acted by a gifted cast and directed with color and precision by Katie Willmorth.
McKenna portrays a ruler whose vanity and flightiness make his downfall feel inevitable. All around him are nobles and cronies who seem to respect him only as far as they must. Even York, his uncle, played by SJ Hannah (an actor who clearly adores the Bard’s words) finds his loyalty carries him only so far when the banished Bolingbroke defiantly returns to English to reclaim his lands. And Richard’s Queen (a fine-tuned, sympathetic turn by Noelle Franco), while steadfast in her love, has no power to change the course of politics and history.
Split Personalities
Will Sarratt is a forceful Bolingbroke, later Henry IV. (Happily, the cast mostly doesn’t affect British accents; however, I did have to get used to their Americanized pronunciation of “Bolingbroke.”) Other cast members are notable in two or more roles each. The wonderful Lauren Pennline’s Mowbray is as fierce and intense as her Duchess of York is droll. Isis Rosina Bruno exudes dignity – first patrician, then military – first as the Duchess of Gloucester, then as Northumberland. Jonathan W. Minton as John of Gaunt muscles out the famous “this sceptered isle” speech with weary defiance, then transforms into a hayseed Gardener and a reedy clergyman loyal to Richard.
Aiding the solid cast are effective production aspects. There’s evocative incidental piano music composed and played live by Kristin KP Sgarro. There’s a super-simple set featuring a throne that turns around to become a castle, from which a besieged and ridiculous Richard looks down, Monty Python-style. There are Kyle Artone’s wonderful costumes that mix eras in strangely convincing ways.
And there are a few remarkable set pieces, like Richard’s soliloquy and death scene. Plain, loose white clothing has replaced his royal robes, and his long hair hangs loose, crownless. The half-joking, have-tragic messianic suggestion is unmistakable.
Shakespeare Stays Relevant
Above all there is Shakespeare’s ineffable poetry, enlivened by the skilled actors’ facility with the language. Like the best Shakespearean casts they convey the story – written entirely in verse – clearly through action and attitude even where bits of the Bard’s English no longer signify to modern ears.
Shakespeare stays relevant through his poetry and his uniquely deep plumbing of human nature in all its facets. He doesn’t need us to point out relevancies of his stories to current events. That said, Willmorth’s approach and McKenna’s portrayal do embody Northumberland’s complaint that “The king is not himself, but basely led by flatterers.” Remind you of anyone?
Smith Street Stage’s Richard II runs through Sept. 28. Tickets are available online.
