Richard III: Difference between revisions

[[File:Olivier_-_RichardIII.jpg|frame]]

 

''Made glorious summer by this son of York.'' }}

 

 

With the possible exception of ''[[The Taming of the Shrew]]'', this is the earliest-written of [[William Shakespeare]]'s plays to still be commonly performed today.

 

Trivial note: For all of the eighteenth and much of the nineteenth century, any ''Richard III'' performed on stage was not Shakespeare's, but a reworking penned by [[Colley Cibber]], which included only about 800 of the original's 3600 lines, excised several characters (including Clarence and Queen Margaret), and added a large amount of new material.

 

* [[Age Lift]]: In various productions, he's been played by 47-year-old [[Basil Rathbone]], 48-year-old [[Laurence Olivier]], 51-year-old [[Vincent Price]], 46-year-old [[Peter Cook]]<ref>(it's ''[[Blackadder]]'' but it still counts)</ref>, 56-year-old [[Ian McKellen]], and also 56-year-old [[Al Pacino]]. It should be noted that Richard was only ''33'' when he died at the battle of Bosworth Field, and only five years older than his usurper, [[Henry VII]], who, unlike Richard, is usually played by a reasonably young actor. Then again, Shakespeare's Richard starts appearing in the ''[[Henry VI]]'' plays, as an adult, at a time when the historical Richard would have been a toddler, so playing him as older even in his own play makes a certain amount of sense.

* [[And Your Little Dog, Too]]: The final straw leading to open rebellion is when Richard tries to forcibly marry his niece.

[[Category:Richard III]]

[[Category:William Shakespeare]]