There is no sign of courtly pomp or ceremony in this reworking of Shakespeare’s history play: a wooden stick stands in for a sceptre and the crown, over which the drama’s power battles commence, is a flimsy looking thing.
A medieval story about the divine right of kings, it is performed by five actors, all in casual modern dress, on a stage stripped of any opulence. Anna Coombs’s adaptation is pared down to a drama about leadership with only 10 characters (as opposed to more than 30 in Shakespeare), its focus on patriarchal power and family betrayal. This makes it intimate, intense, and almost claustrophobic.
The stage is strewn with spotlights and ladders – the latter a visual metaphor for Bolingbroke’s ascent to Richard’s throne and this set (designed by Colin Falconer) exposes both the stage workings and inner machinations of power.
Produced by Tangle Theatre (which amplifies African and Caribbean voices) in association with MAST Mayflower Studios, it comes with a live score of Zimbabwean songs composed and directed by John Pfumojena. Actors double up as singers and the production’s musicality is central to its power, bringing great potent surges.
Most strikingly, the female characters, already marginal in the original text, are absent. Also directed by Coombs, its study is patriarchy in its purest form: male bloodlines – fathers, sons, uncles and cousins – jostling aggressively for supremacy. All the more so with only one female actor in the cast – Lebogang Fisher, who plays Aumerle, who is a more central figure here.
Actors double up and make each character distinct for the main part; the ensemble is strong, although some verse is spoken over-emphatically. Raheim Menzies plays Bolingbroke with an upstanding, military air and a Coventry accent, sharply distinct from the flowery RP spoken by Daniel Rock as Richard. Although he is the king’s first cousin, it is made plain that there is a social distinction between them and one which Bolingbroke uses to rally the masses against Richard’s irresponsible rule.
Rock is best in his early scenes, displaying callow haughtiness and speaking the verse with crisp clarity. Sibusiso Mamba, playing various parts, is a strong presence along with Fisher.
Percussive music heightens the tension and lighting (designed by Hansjörg Schmidt) defines the mood; the spotlights create an almost spooky effect, with some brightly lit, others whispering in shadows.
It looses its tautness towards the end, but is well worth watching with a central concept that makes this play’s questions about leadership freshly relevant.
Richard the Second is at Omnibus theatre, London, until 27 November.
