{"id":6125,"date":"2016-10-20T06:36:43","date_gmt":"2016-10-20T10:36:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=6125"},"modified":"2016-11-03T08:08:43","modified_gmt":"2016-11-03T12:08:43","slug":"richard-iii-at-stnj","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/?p=6125","title":{"rendered":"Richard III – at STNJ"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"richard-iii,

Gretchen Hall & Derek Wilson; photo: Jerry Dalia<\/p><\/div>\n

Shakespeare\u2019s quintessential villain erupts into being in this Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey<\/a> production directed by Paul Mullins (on view through November 6). The cast is huge\u201416 actors playing 22 parts\u2014but all depends on the sly malice and believability of the title character, a role Derek Wilson fulfills admirably.<\/p>\n

Shakespeare\u2019s Richard is more duplicitous than history supports, since in the Elizabethan era, theater was required to explain and justify the monarchy, but the play\u2019s machinations seem perfectly plausible in Wilson\u2019s hands. Fawning here, back-stabbing there, and slyly engaging the audience in his treachery.<\/p>\n

The story describes the culmination of the War of the Roses, and it\u2019s a familiar one, as most theater goers have seen one or more productions of this classic. In (very) short, Richard murders his way to the throne of England, but getting the crown isn\u2019t keeping it. The play\u2019s most famous lines come at the beginning \u00a0and end, but like all Shakespeare\u2019s plays, it is filled with juicy bits. Here\u2019s one for this political season: \u201cAnd thus I clothe my naked villainy with old odd ends stolen out of holy writ; and seem a saint, when most I play the devil.\u201d<\/p>\n

STNJ has provided a helpful Plantagenet family tree in the program, which, abbreviated though it is, is at first glance a stumper. I studied it before the show and had a few relationships sorted out, and at the intermission I gave it another go, putting everyone in place.<\/p>\n

In addition to Wilson\u2019s Richard, the many fine performances include those of the three principal women: Gretchen Hall (Queen Elizabeth, wife of Richard\u2019s brother, King Edward IV), Carol Halstead<\/a> (Margaret of Anjou, Henry VI\u2019s \u201cwarrior queen,\u201d who lives up to her sobriquet), and Amaia Arana<\/a> (Lady Anne, widow of Margaret and Henry\u2019s son, Edward, and later wife of Richard). In Shakespeare\u2019s story, Richard instigated the murder of both Henry VI and Edward. For these crimes, Margaret and Anne hate him. The widowed Queen Elizabeth has reasons to both hate and fear him when her two sons \u201cthe little princes in the tower\u201d are believed murdered at Richard\u2019s behest.<\/p>\n

Though lots of murder is talked about, most of it occurs off-stage. In keeping with the production\u2019s modern dress, there is gunfire as well as swordplay. Richard III<\/em> is a long play, but the energy of the cast and the direction (as well as some judicious trimming) make the story move apace.<\/p>\n

Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey productions are hosted at Drew University in Madison, N.J. (easily reachable from NYC by train), and until October 30 you can also see there an exhibit of Shakespeare\u2019s First Folio<\/a>, on tour from the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

STNJ has prepared an excellent \u201cKnow the Show Guide<\/a>.\u201d For tickets, call the box office at 973-408-5600 or visit http:\/\/www.shakespearenj.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shakespeare\u2019s quintessential villain erupts into being in this Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey production directed by Paul Mullins (on view through November 6). The cast is huge\u201416 actors playing 22 parts\u2014but all depends on the sly malice and believability of … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Richard III - at STNJ: Shakespeare's most villainous king commands the stage with skill and energy","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[266,104,147],"tags":[644,643,641,519,642,640,197],"class_list":["post-6125","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-history","category-the-morgue","category-theater","tag-amaia-arana","tag-carol-halstead","tag-derek-wilson","tag-england","tag-gretchen-hall","tag-richard-iii","tag-shakespeare"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2NkiT-1AN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6125","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6125"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6125\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6127,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6125\/revisions\/6127"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6125"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6125"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vweisfeld.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6125"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}