Some people will do anything to get to the top.
Navigating the corridors of power is easy if you know how to take a few short cuts. Richard III tells the story of an obsessed man with twisted ambitions, who manipulates, marries and murders his way to the top. Set as a contemporary political thriller, this gripping production dissects the corruption of power in testing times; when peace is abandoned and enemies mount in the minds of the paranoid.
Suave, calculating and brutal, meet one of Shakespeare’s greatest villains.
Photography: Earl Carter, Rehearsal Photography: Pam Kleemann
‘If it’s true that, perversely, we all love a good villain, then Richard III must be one of theatre’s most lovable characters. Shakespeare’s bravura study of Machiavellian manipulation was the original proof that a good thriller can be as entertaining as a comedy. Mordant and mischievous, brazen and brutal, one of the added bonuses of this dizzying descent into the stygian depths of human malevolence is that, as well as its hunchback hero, it has four great roles for women. So I’m thrilled to be able to invite Jennifer Hagen, Deidre Rubenstein, Alison Whyte and Meredith Penman to support the brilliant young Ewen Leslie in what will no doubt be a dazzling MTC debut.’
Simon Phillips, Artistic Director