It can be tough to follow a Shakespeare play without a glossary and a synopsis even though we’re both English majors. That’s why we’re always surprised at how clearly Cleveland Shakespeare Festival productions come across. In the current production, The Tragedy of Richard II, Shakespeare’s words in the mouths of CSF’s actors take us from England’s royal court to the seacoast of Wales to an army on the march through the English countryside to a dank prison, all within the confines of our familiar neighborhood park, with scarcely a production value in sight. “Sometimes less is more,” we agreed as we walked home.
It was as CFS’s Brian Pedaci said before the performance: “As a decidedly low-budget touring company we have to make artistic decisions with things like costuming. We try to look for contemporary idioms that help an audience understand who the characters are in relation to each other. The guys in the suits are the guys in power. The guys in T-shirts and jeans, not so much.” Not only is it cheaper and easier to have the actors dress in their own clothes, it can make the play clearer.
Pedaci, who played the hip-hop Henry VIII in CSF’s 2012 production of The Famous History of the Life of Henry Eighth, offers an actor’s interpretation of Richard’s psychology.
“Richard is capricious and ineffectual. He’s been king from a very young age and has come to believe that God has ordained him to rule. Any decision he likes will be the right one.”
Indeed, the actions of Shakespeare’s Richard sometimes seems written in order to provide an argument against the theory of the divine right of kings, for Richard repeatedly wrongs Henry Bolingbroke with arbitrary, unjust decisions that strain the loyalty of those around him.
“In the first scene,” explains Pedaci, “Richard hears a dispute between Bolingbrook and another nobleman, and to settle it he decides to exile them both.” As happened in history and as depicted in Richard II, the exiled Bolingbroke eventually gathers an army and returns to England to redress the wrongs against himself, then ends up deposing Richard to become Henry IV.
But Shakespeare shows us another, surprisingly sympathetic side of Richard’s character. As Pedaci puts it, “Richard doesn’t look good on the stage, at least as the play begins, but as he falls from power it’s a humanizing experience. He realizes that it’s the fate of all kings to die and so he becomes a sympathetic character.”
He gets to declaim some really great soliloquies:
All murder’d: for within the hollow crown / That rounds the mortal temples of a king / Keeps Death his court
Bolingbroke/Henry IV is a forebearer of Elizabeth I, Shakespeare’s patron, so it’s somewhat surprising that in Richard II Shakespeare shows how Bolingbroke starts by seeking what’s rightfully his, but ends by opportunistically seizing the crown (although at times Richard seems almost eager to give it up).
Lightning scene changes of the minimal sets and judicious cuts in the text bring this Richard II in at 90 minutes without intermission. “We want to get you done before it’s dark so you can enjoy the rest of your evening,” explains Pendaci.
Strategically placed speakers made every member of the cast clearly audible, even for hearing-impaired Vic. James Alexander Rankin seemed to embody the smugly entitled, indecisive Richard, but his actor’s chops delivered Shakespeare’s many juicy speeches with total clarity. Leilani Barrett brought his powerful vocal and physical instrument to the role of Bolingbroke; we remember Barrett as a dancer and choreographer and look forward to seeing more of his work as an actor.
CSF’s secondary characters and ensemble players add immeasurably to this Richard II by their alert presence, even without lines. We were particularly taken by the stylized but visceral depiction of violence, as when Lainne Amelia Davis in her role as a servant reacts to Richard’s attempt on her life, which quickly spirals into Richard’s murder.
Later this summer CSF will begin touring The Tempest, a play we’re familiar with from Great Lakes Theater Festival’s 2015 production as well as the 2010 movie starring Helen Mirren. But Pedaci suggests we use a different frame of reference.
“In a lot of cases, our audience may not have the wherewithal to go to a GLTF production,” he says. “They may not pick up a Helen Mirren DVD. They may have never seen a Shakespeare play. We get folks like that. They’re like, ‘Something’s going on in the park. Grab the kids and let’s go see a play.’ We eliminate the threshold of a drive downtown. We come to their neighborhood. If the kids get bored they can run over to the playground. It’s like going to a drive-in movie. That’s the experience that we’re bringing.”
“So,” we ask, “How about a brief synopsis of The Tempest?”
“A fantastical story of magic, revenge, and forgiveness on a desert island,” replies Pedaci. Sounds good to us.
Cleveland Shakespeare Festival comes to a venue near you with King Richard II through Sun 7/3 and The Tempest Fri 7/22 to Sun 8/7. For this summer’s complete touring calendar go to cleveshakes.com/. All performances at 7pm and are presented free. Please bring your own chair or blanket.
[Written by Elsa Johnson and Victor Lucas]