Richard III, King of the Car Park | AFTLS Tour Blog III

You may not know this (forgive me if you do) but the real King Richard III who ruled England from 1483-1485 was the last English king to die on the battlefield: at Bosworth Field near Leicester.

He is also one of England’s greatest “villains,” mostly because he was deemed responsible for the disappearance of his two young nephews, Edward, Prince of Wales and Richard, Duke of York who went into the Tower of London in the summer of 1483 and were never seen again. They had been proved illegitimate and, though young Edward was due to be crowned, it was his uncle, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, who became king.

Richard III by Andrew Jamieson (courtesy of the Richard III Society)

Richard III by Andrew Jamieson (courtesy of the Richard III Society)

I put “villain” in inverted commas because many people feel even now that he was maligned especially by Shakespeare who concentrated on the wicked and comedic aspects of the man. Indeed, Shakespeare has Richard tell us in his very first speech that he is “determined to prove a villain.” Of course, dramatically, it makes Richard III an even more powerful and classy psychological thriller. It is argued that it was mostly the Tudors that wished to dishonour him.

In 1924, a group of very vehement supporters of Richard III formed a society in his name  to uphold and defend him as an excellent king who passed many good laws (true: a fairer criminal justice system and granting of bail was due to him) and they have members all over the world. The Richard III Society think that Shakespeare vilely slandered Richard, that he had nothing to do with the young princes’ disappearance, and that he certainly did NOT have a curvature of the spine and physical challenges.

In Shakespeare’s play Richard is called “a bunchback’d toad” amongst other horrible names. [Click HERE for a list of the insults hurled in Richard III]

In 2012, Phillipa Langley, a member of the still flourishing Richard III Society, after much research and poring over ancient maps, managed with an historian, John Ashdown-Hill, to persuade Leicester University’s archeological department and Leicester City Council to dig up the council’s car park (parking lot in your parlance) as they both had strong evidence that Greyfriars Monastery was beneath it and that Richard could possibly be buried there. Richard’s body, history told us previously, was taken from the battlefield, stripped naked, thrown and tied over the back of a horse, and ridden around the city of Leicester to prove he was dead. Philippa believed otherwise.

Richard greetings cardThere was money enough to dig two trenches and a film crew shot a documentary about this adventure. One of the first shots is of the rather beautiful and slightly nervy and terribly British Phillipa standing on a seemingly randomly painted letter ‘R’ (some old designated spacing I imagine) saying tremulously: “I don’t know why but I have the most extraordinary feeling that he’s right under here”…and HE WAS! In the very first hours of the very first day of the dig, they found first some legs and then a skull which they assumed (because of its awkward position) was another body on top ,only to discover that it was someone with a severely curved spine. It is worth watching The King in the Car Park solely for Philippa’s reaction as she looks down to the skeleton. You can watch she and the Society’s belief in Richard’s normal physicality shatter on screen. Matt, the lead archeologist of the dig, said that if they had chosen to dig 50 centimetres to the right, they would never have discovered his skeleton. The Home Office had to be called as human bones had been found, but the dig continued. It was later discovered that a descendant of Richard III’s sister, a Canadian cabinet maker living in London called Michael Ibsen, had  exactly the same DNA as the skeleton. They truly had found a “King in a car park,” 527 years after his death.

Richard's ReinterrmentPhillipa is a fantastic woman who doggedly pursued her instincts and who honoured this man, whatever his misdemeanours. She keeps saying all the way through, often weeping, “I just keep thinking about the man, the human being he was.” Two and a half years later he was interred at Leicester cathedral in an absolutely beautiful coffin made by his descendant, Michael Ibsen. Gosh, it’s nearly as thrilling as our play.

Richard-iii-remainsOne more wonderful thing, bearing in mind our gender blind casting and me — a woman — playing Richard, is that when the osteologist was first examining the bones she (for a goodly while) thought it was the skeleton of a woman because the hip bones were slightly larger than a male and the forearms very delicate and “gracile”…just like mine. Hurrah!

— Liz Crowther

BREAKING NEWS — Another King found in a car park just this week! The UK’s Telegraph newspaper has the whole story: Another car park, another King: ‘Henry I’s remains’ found beneath tarmac at Reading Gaol

Making the Cut | AFTLS “Streamlines” Richard III

In just three days, our five actors bring their new adaptation of Richard III to the United States. AFTLS Associate Director, Caroline Devlin, has edited one of Shakespeare’s longest plays into a fast, fierce 2:15 production. Read how she “made the cut” in today’s tour blog.

Folio title pageRichard III is one of Shakespeare’s longest plays. It’s length is justified as it serves not only as a narrative of this famous King, but also as a conclusion to the series of plays we know as Shakespeare’s “History” plays. It can also compete for being one of his most complex plays – in almost every scene we meet a new character! That is a very intricate web of names and faces to confront the audience with. Bear in mind, these names and faces would have been very familiar to Elizabethan audiences, as these plays dealt with their not too distant history, but for contemporary audiences, just keeping up with who’s who is a challenge, let alone investing in the plot and character journeys.

King_Richard_IIIThe main objective has been therefore, not to “cut” the play, so much as “streamline” it to the story surrounding the Duke of Gloucester, his bloody rise to power and his ultimate defeat at Bosworth. Uncut, it is epic with a vast cast of about 45 which I’ve cut down to 27 (excluding messengers and citizens) so quite a few characters have gone. Almost exclusively, any character going has been directly relatable to their importance to the Richard story. Jane Shore is a lovely character, but the mention of her in the play, although deliciously political in nature, doesn’t help the audience unless they are fully versed in her role as court courtesan, therefore, she was a clear contender for being cut.

This is the case with almost all other characters that have been cut. In some places a character has been merged, for example, I’ve merged Ratcliffe into Catesby – simply to avoid meeting another minor character who doesn’t have a story that particularly develops. Also, at this late stage of the play we are already meeting new characters in the shape of Richmond and his followers, so I wanted to keep any new faces and names to an absolute necessity.

In a few places a character has been added, Marquis of Dorset arrives in a scene to replace a messenger. This aids to keep his character alive for the audience, he is a minor character but his relationship to Queen Elizabeth and his timely escape from London to join Richmond is important storytelling, so I wanted to keep this character clear to the audience.

I felt sadly bound to diminish the role of various Priests and Archbishops in the storytelling. In some places these lines have been included but given to other characters. I felt that unless someone was familiar with the role of the Church in State matters in the 1480’s, it could be confusing as to why a member of the clergy may be so essential to State decisions. But ultimately, it again came down to the clarity of storytelling.

Caroline DevlinThe rehearsal script has had numerous readings with Associate Directors and the AFTLS office contributing feedback, and the version has had a successful professional run (albeit with a full cast, not five actors) and was praised for its clarity and pace. I mention this only to re-assure that the cut works!” — Caroline Devlin, AFTLS Associate Director and three-time tour veteran

Richard III will be performing across the United States this fall. To learn about Actors From The London Stage, explore how 27 roles are shared between five actors, and see if AFTLS will be at a university near you, visit our WEBPAGE for more details and a full tour schedule.

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The Richard III cast (pictured L-R): Hannah Barrie, Evelyn Miller, Liz Crowther, Paul O’Mahony, & Alice Haig.

London Calling | Richard in Rehearsal

We’ve just had an absolutely cracking first week’s rehearsal of Richard III. There are five of us: Hannah Barrie, Evelyn Miller, Alice Haig, Paul O’Mahony, and me (Liz Crowther) playing 24 different characters and telling our thrilling story in Shakespeare’s words while persuading our audience than 10 chairs and a bare stage are a palace, a battlefield, a bedroom, and a prison to name but a few of our locations.

The 'Richard III' cast gathers for the first time.

The AFTLS cast of Richard III gathers for the first time. (Pictured L-R: Evelyn Miller, Paul O’Mahony, Alice Haig, Liz Crowther, and Hannah Barrie)

We met briefly three weeks ago for a sit down “read through“ of the play, to make an initial connection, and, I think, to make us realize the fabulous challenge ahead. We have many, many lines to learn between us and are required to be “off book” (i.e. know it all) two weeks into rehearsal.

Props

As there is no director, the five actors determine what props are needed for the production.

Day One: Eunice and Richard, our experienced AFTLS leaders, came to welcome us to prep us for our US Embassy visit and to bring us THE SUITCASE. This is our equivalent of a touring theatre’s pantechnicon (a large van for transporting furniture) full of costumes, props, scenery, and wigs (30 tons in Evelyn’s last production King and Country that toured to China…and that was just the props). Our production’s single case will contain all we need for our show and must not exceed 23 kilos (50 pounds).

During this first rehearsal, Eunice gave us a fantastic tip: “Make sure each character you play has a different silhouette.” This is valuable advice as the speed which we change roles leaves no time for anything other than something brief and instantly readable. For example, a crown is a great help for King Edward. Hannah Barrie who plays King Edward also plays both the Duke of Clarence who is in prison AND his gaoler (jailer) Brackenbury. More of this later. Evelyn had prepared a wonderful Family Tree of the actual House of Plantagenet to help us all be on the same page with who is who. Richard III is based on true English history with Shakespeare’s own slant and time compression. Our play has two Richards, three Edwards, and some characters, like the aforementioned Duke of Clarence, who is sometimes called by his first name George and sometimes Clarence. With this in mind, another of our tasks ahead is to fashion an introduction to the play at the very beginning to help our audience out. It is also one of the absolute joys for the audience of an AFTLS production — seeing actors switch from role to role.

A cajon drum box

A cajon drum box

We discussed various aspects of the play briefly, uncertain how to start. Two of us have done the play before and know it well: Hannah (at the RSC as part of their 2008 Histories Season) and Paul. They talked about the general arc of the play, about it being a play of factions. We talked about when to set it and we all agreed on doing it now. The very first word spoken in the play is “Now.“ Hannah discussed possible music and soundscapes and we all thought, since drums are mentioned, they would be a good way forward and could be used in an amazing variety of ways. Eva said she’d bring in a cajon (pictured right). We’re allowed two experts to support us (i.e. a choreographer and a fight director) and she agreed to contact a musician chum about coming in to help. We discussed disability at the time the play was written and now and the practical challenges of playing a man with curvature of the spine, a damaged arm and legs of unequal length. Actors have to be incredibly careful of hurting themselves when rehearsing and performing for months on end. We talked about whether to have real letters, swords, or mimed props. Alice talked about the importance of the visual dynamics when staging it, standing on chairs, lying on the floor and then suggested (since we were all slightly floundering wondering how to properly BEGIN) something the director Michael Longhurst had done at the Sam Wanamaker Playhouse when she worked with him which was to just all stand up and do the WHOLE play all the way through from beginning to end. It was brilliant as we all dived in together, all felt vulnerable together, all heard those incredible words again — but standing up! — so could actually do so much more vocally and physically than seated. It also united us in our terror!

CombatThe rest of the week we’ve ploughed on. We discussed our characters in depth. Is Buckingham a man of solid integrity or a dodgier character? How much pain does Richard feel? How liberating is it for him to decide to be a villain? How does Queen Margaret’s chilling curse manifest itself physically? We read/talk/do with each scene, sorting out knotty words, the focus and speedily getting something up on its feet. We decided to start each day with a thorough vocal and physical warm up. This is standard practice in a rehearsal room. You need immense stamina and vocal power for Shakespeare’s plays, and we have delighted in each actor’s contribution. Evelyn kicked us off with glorious stretches. Paul has given us some fiendishly difficult clapping sequences where we clap different rhythms against each other. I still haven’t cracked that one. Alice has taught us a one to ten singing sequence where you feel your lungs may burst by the end and Hannah revealed the most incredible Irish dancing talent with sounds that create an instant battlefield. I led the vocal warm up with the silliest sounds, blowing out like a horse and doing a very strange exercise sticking your tongue out, holding your chin down and flexing it making “yah, yah” sounds. (Tell the truth; you just tried it, didn’t you?)

GroupWe’ve solved some space changes…well for the moment, anyway. For example in the prison (the Tower of London) in Act One, scene four we created narrow, dark corridors just by the way we walk and then a wider space for Clarence. All my fellow actors have proved astonishing in switching characters. Evvy has a great challenge in having just a light start then an absolutely HEAVY Act Three when Buckingham comes on though she may also be the only one to play three people in the space of five lines in Act Two!

With multi roles, we’ve found it useful if one person is seated or lying down or in a very clearly defined space so that the other character that the actor is playing can have an eye-line to that chair or crouch over them on the floor, etc. We’ve discovered that slowing this down is much finer that rushing it. We’ve decided to use cloth of different sizes to delineate different characters (headscarves for example). Short bits of bamboo may possibly serve as daggers. None of this is concrete but a fluid process.

We managed to get to the end of Act Three by Friday. It’s all too easy to leave the last act or two in a play to late on in rehearsals if you don’t manage your time well. Friday was a lovely day. I had great help with some of my soliloquies at the start of the day. People interjecting randomly in speeches is a good way to help an actor who’s having difficulty. We explored just saying the end word of each line and that was extraordinarily insightful. We discussed the role of the audience and getting them onside in Richard’s case. I felt less like an old record when we’d finished. Everyone had useful input and I think we’re very accepting of each other’s contribution. We’ve also laughed a LOT.

— Liz Crowther

“Midsummer” arrives at Notre Dame

The Midsummer AFTLS cast

“Oh beautiful, for spacious skies, For amber waves of grain,
For purple mountain majesties, Above the fruited plain!”

We’ve arrived in the land of the free! (In a stretch limo no less; thanks Deb!) [Office note: the limo was the cheapest option to transport our five actors from Chicago to South Bend.] And at the risk of completely adhering to the British stereotype, I am going to talk about the weather. It has been amazing! I hadn’t packed for the beautiful Indian summer here. I have alpaca and cashmere for the winter but very little in the way of shorts and sunscreen, and it’s making me nervous about Texas in a couple of weeks…

Our first week in the US has been fairly slow-moving. We’ve had to do a lot of admin, from filling-in and rehearsing whilst battling the bewildering effects of jet lag. However, it has been a joy to finally meet the wonderful people at the end of all the emails who have also helped us through this week. Deb Gasper is an astonishing lady, organizing everything and conducting herself with the patience of a saint while we set ourselves up for the tour ahead. We have had the pleasure of meeting Becky and Heidi in finance and Peter, Scott, Aaron from Shakespeare at Notre Dame who have all been delightful.

The craft beer list at South Bend's Evil Czech Brewery

The craft beer list at South Bend’s Evil Czech Brewery

Deb, Aaron and Scott very kindly took us out for Taco Tuesday at Evil Czech Brewery where we got to experience the famous American craft beer movement first hand. (Scott’s spicy Porter had a real kick to it!) Joining us with an Irish welcome was Grant Mudge, producing artistic director of Notre Dame’s Shakespeare Festival.

In our rehearsal room this week we have been joined by Anna Kurtz-Kuk who has been a joy! So positive, useful, and insightful. I wish we could have had her with us in London too. She is about to direct a production of The Understudy and it promises to be a fantastic production if her contribution to our Midsummer is anything to go by.

Notre Dame's Golden Dome as seen from our rehearsal space, ND's historic Washington Hall.

The burning sun on the dome at Notre Dame. This picture does not do it justice. I couldn’t look at the dome it was so bright.

Rehearsals were held in Notre Dame’s historic Washington Hall, just steps away from ND’s Golden Dome. We did our second preview on Friday afternoon, a week after the first in London and got some great feedback from the audience. We’ll hopefully get some time this week to work the notes. After notes it was straight on the road to go to Valparaiso, gearing up for our Westville residency.

Saturday was our much needed day off and the day of the England vs Wales Rugby match in the Rugby Union World Cup which is going on back home.

The Indiana Dunes on the shore of Lake Michigan

View of Lake Michigan from the Indiana Dunes

Sam and Chris were keen to catch the match but failed to find anywhere in downtown Valparaiso showing it so ended up heading towards Lake Michigan where Claire, Patrick, and I had already gone to have a dip. My gosh, it was beautiful! And not as cold as the Hampstead ponds in London.

(Blog post by AFTLS actor Ffion Jolly)

Meet the Cast of the Winter’s Tale: Grant Goodman

Grant Goodman (Leontes)

Grant Goodman (Leontes)

Grant Goodman (Leontes, the King of Sicilia) is thrilled to be “back home again in Indiana” to perform at The Notre Dame Shakespeare Festival. Off-Broadway credits include: Antony & Cleopatra, The Merchant of Venice (Theatre for a New Audience), King Lear, The Iliad (Lincoln Center), Richard II (New York City Center/Pearl Theatre) and Pericles (Red Bull) among others.  Regional credits include extensive work with: Yale Repertory Theatre, Hartford Stage, Shakespeare Theatre Company (Washington, D.C.), The Old Globe, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Court Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Arizona Theatre Company, PlayMaker’s Repertory Company, Indiana Repertory Theatre, Syracuse Stage, the Illinois, Kentucky, and Utah Shakespeare Festivals, and The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey among many others. Television credits include: As the World Turns and Sex and the City. Training: Graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Grant was recently selected to represent the U.S. in the International Actors’ Fellowship at The Globe Theatre in London this coming fall.


For tickets visit DeBartolo Performing Arts Center Box Office

For information visit Shakespeare at Notre Dame