Directing William Shakespeare's Richard III
Dear Mr Akter,
I am writing to congratulate you upon being chosen to play the part of
Richard in our forthcoming production of Richard III. This letter is a
guide for you for how I would like the part of Richard to be acted.
This shall be primarily based upon two key scenes in the play, which
are Act 1 Scene I (opening scene) and Act 5 Scene VII (eve of battle
scene). This guide covers 3 main aspects of playing the part of
Richard. These are: Your interaction with other characters, your
interpretation and delivery of speech within the play and your
physical representation of Richard.
The reason why these two scenes have been concentrated on is because
they occur at key moments within the play and at opposite ends as
well. Not only do they appear at opposite ends of the play but they
also occur when Richards’s confidence is at opposite ends of the
emotional spectrum. This enables us to see Richard from multiple
perspectives and it shows us his multi-faceted mental and emotional
states.
As I am sure you are aware, Richard is portrayed as an Evil and
conscience free king as well as being physically deformed. Although
elements of this are based upon the truth, it is appreciated that
Shakespeare made many of these descriptions up. Due to limited other
historical reference this is how Richard is portrayed nowadays.
Shakespeare’s reasons for, perhaps, making up these facts are to
please the Queen at his time, who was Queen Elizabeth I. This would
please her because it was her grandfather, Henry Tudor (later Henry
VII (Richmond in the play)), who became King after Richard III was
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...t from the audience partly
due to his irregularities and for his determination. Humorous
instances will enable this to be possible and this will provide
entertainment outside of the script.
To conclude, it is imperative that Richards’s confidence and
outrageousness of the earlier Acts is shown to the same excess as his
neurotic behaviour and paranoia of the last scenes. His character
interaction must change as well and this is due to a change in the
tonal delivery of your lines. Simply, I appreciate how hard
Shakespearian plays are to understand from and audience perspective
and it is your job to make it simpler for them as well as keeping it
entertaining.
Thank You for Your Time
Artistic Director
Bibliography: Richard III – William Shakespeare
Notes on Richard III – Rebecca Warren
Richard III's Usurpation and His Downfall Richards rule was always unstable due to his unlawful usurpation to the throne and his part as far as the public was concerned in the death of the two princes. As a result right from the start he didn't have the trust or support from his country. As soon as he became King people were already plotting against him. After he was crowned he travelled the country trying to raise support by refusing the generous gifts offered to him by various cities. However unknown to him a rebellion was been planned in the South.
To explore connections between texts is to heighten understanding of humanity’s progressing values and the underlying relevant themes that continue to engage societies regardless of context. William Shakespeare’s King Richard III (1592) (RIII) and Al Pacino’s docudrama Looking for Richard (1996) (LFR) demonstrate how opinion is created through comparative study, both explore the struggle for power within differing contexts to determine the duplicity of humanity. Ultimately, despite the divergent eras of composition and textual form, these connections expose the relevant social commentaries of their composers, highlighting innately human values, which remain constant.
Anne is quite like a modern woman in the way that if a man tells her
Act 1 scene 3 and Act 3 scene 5 of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet
Written during a time of peace immediately following the conclusion of the War of the Roses between the Yorks and the Lancasters, William Shakespeare’s play Richard III showcases a multi-faceted master of linguistic eloquence, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, a character who simultaneously manages to be droll, revolting, deadly, yet fascinating. Richard's villainy works in a keen, detestable manner, manifesting itself in his specific use or, rather, abuse of rhetoric. He spends a substantial amount of time directly interacting and therefore breaking the fourth wall and orating to the audience in order to forge a relationship with them, to make members not only his confidants of murderous intentions, but also his accomplices and powerless, unwilling cohorts to his wrongdoings. Through the reader’s exploration of stylistic and rhetorical stratagem in the opening and final soliloquies delivered by Richard, readers are able to identify numerous devices which provide for a dramatic effect that make evident the psychological deterioration and progression of Richard as a character and villain.
This contributes to a very villainous role. Richard begins his journey to the throne. He manipulates Lady Anne. into marrying him, even though she knows that he murdered her first. husband.
...ive for Richard’s manipulation in different ways, reflecting the values of their respective zeitgeists, and Looking for Richard emphasizes that there is no fear of divine retribution in the modern context, but the impact of their immoral behavior on their individual identity.
...f control of scenes and verbal encounters, which finally ends with his magnificent downfall. [implement more Margaret control/curses/competition in the beginning]. Despite Richard's best attempts to write his own ending, the audience is now forced with the truth that it was Margaret's prophecy that ripened to fruition. With Richard's final soliloquy taking blame for his actions and "the outward movement away from any semblance of Richard's control, completes the separation of Richard and audience" (Schellenberg 66). Through the course of Act V, Richard takes part in only two of the six scenes. Of these two scenes, he shares the stage with Richmond, the rising actor to take the lead role.
From the outset of the play, it is obvious that Richard subscribes to the majority of the Machiavellian principles. Certainly, he is not ashamed or afraid to plot heinous murder, and he does so with an ever-present false front. "I do mistake my person all this while,"1 he muses, plotting Anne's death minutes after having won her hand. He will not even entertain the ideas in public, demanding they "Dive...down to [his] soul."2 He knows that he must be cunning and soulless to succeed in his tasks. Richard also knows it is essential to guard against the hatred of the populace, as Machiavelli warned.
Act 1 scene 5 is the dramatic climax of act 1 in the drama The Diary of
Casting a darkly mythical aura around Richard III, supernatural elements are intrinsic to this Shakespearean history play. The prophetic dreams of Clarence and Stanley blur the line between dream and reality, serving to foreshadow impending doom. The ghosts that appear before Richard III and Richmond before their battle create an atmosphere of dread and suspense, and they also herald Richard's destiny. The curses of three female royalties are fulfilled at the end, serving as reminders that the divine powers are stronger than Richard's malice. Together, the supernatural elements of dreams, ghosts, and curses unify the plot of Richard III and allow the divine to triumph over evil.
There is no doubt that Lawrence Olivier's version does a better job of sticking with the letter of the play, bringing us all the richness of the Elizabethan dialogue and costume, allowing us to experience the events as they happened.
In this essay I will explore how significant act 3 scene 7 is to the
Being a director in a production such as Romeo and Juliet is no easy task, and I enter into this paper with that in mind. My goals are to be creative, and do things differently from the many versions of the play we have viewed in class. Each of those directors took the original text, written by William Shakespeare, and turned it into a unique version of their own; unique in the sense that they changed the tragedy by taking out lines, conversation or even entire scenes to better suit that particular director’s needs.
It is in the scenes directly following Act 3 Scene 2 that we see two