RICHARD III (A ONE-WOMAN SHOW)

Emily Carding and Kolbrun Bjort Sigfusdottir’s version of Richard III at the Citizen’s Theatre Glasgow is something else. I thought it would be a monologue when I went in, but that doesn’t describe this adaptation at all, even though Richard III has all the lines. Immediately on entrance, Carding greets the audience as Richard and gives some of them name plaques which will portend an interactive experience.

Richard wears a suit and tie, drinks wine and swings around the stage on a swivel chair as he talks to the audience. Carding’s strong physical presence, charisma and her dynamic interaction with the audience makes this a forceful performance.

Carding commands the whole room. Ordering unsuspecting members of the audience to silently play her brother, wife, the old King and all other characters, she beckons and dismisses them with a wave of her hand.

The scene where Richard woos and wins Anne is one of the best scenes of Shakespeare’s play, and is directed here to perfection with the emotional manipulations of Richard exposed beautifully by using the passivity of the audience member playing Anne. The very natural submissiveness of the audience works well in emphasizing Richard’s power and in making his frustration with his nobles hilarious as they stare in silence at him, giving a nod or shake of the head here and there. On the night I saw it, Richard plucked an audience member to play an assassin and then gently mocked his slowness in finding the young princes. But there was little audience mockery in this adaptation, it was all very genial and inclusive.

The gentle humour of this adaptation is one of its strengths – Carding’s fluid performance is peppered with off-the-cuff wit blended seamlessly into Richard III’s character. She carries the whole thing with aplomb, and does so better than most Shakespeare ensemble casts I’ve seen. In fact, she perfectly captures the wicked but engaging character of Richard III.