Globe: Richard II

From the archive

This film was last shown on 26 June 2016

Within the hollow crown
That rounds the mortal temples of a king
Keeps death his court.

Ruling by divine right, but himself ruled by caprice, King Richard exiles Henry Bolingbroke and seizes his father’s vast estates. While Richard is distracted by a rebellion in Ireland, Bolingbroke returns to England, intent on recovering his rightful property and, with the support of his disgruntled peers, perhaps seizing the crown itself.

Dazzlingly eloquent and ceremonious, Richard II invests a weak and self-dramatising man with tragic status and represents Shakespeare’s most searching exploration of the meaning of kingship and the rising powers that can destroy it.

REVIEWS

★★★★
‘Charles Edwards’s excellent Richard…pierces the heart. Recommended.’
The Independent

★★★★
‘[Charles] Edwards is a beautiful fit for the role.’
Financial Times

★★★★
‘a briskly intelligent production.’
The Guardian

★★★★
‘A human and entertaining night of tragedy.’
Time Out

★★★★★
‘A highly intelligent and fast-moving production.’
WhatsOnStage

‘A production that achieves true tragic stature.’
The Times

Directed by: Simon Godwin

Designer: Paul Wills

Composer: Stephen Warbeck

Cast: Thomas Ashdown, Oliver Boot, Graham Butler, William Chubb, Charles Edwards, Henry Everett, William Gaunt, Jonny Glynn, Greg Haiste, Angus Imrie, Richard Katz, Kate Malyon, Frederick Neilson, Anthony Pinnick, Ekow Quartey, Anneika Rose, David Sturzaker, Sasha Waddell, Arthur Wilson, Joshua Mason Wood, Sarah Woodward

Running time: Approximately 2hrs 40mins including one interval. Recorded at Shakespeare's Globe 2015.

Read more at http://onscreen.shakespearesglobe.com/productions/richard-ii/#eExARUHgEvDy7kzA.99