The opening soliloquy (Act1 Scene1) In the early days of rehearsal the freezing attic rehearsal room at the West Yorkshire Playhouse provided an appropriate atmosphere for Conrad Nelson to begin
Richard III with Richard's famously chilling opening soliloquy, Now is the winter of our discontent.
Richard III has always been one of Shakespeare's most popular plays with audiences. What is it that draws them to the story of this conniving misogynistic mass murderer,
what do they find attractive ? Perhaps the answer lies in part because evil is often more attractive (bad news sells more newspapers than good) and certainly it is potentially more dramatically interesting than goodness. Perhaps too because, although Richard deceives so many people, he is true to the audience with whom, in
that opening soliloquy he immediately strikes up a relationship.
The wooing scene - Act1 Scene3 An interesting scene that soon follows this opening involves Richard in the seduction of Lady Anne, a feat he achieves despite the highly unpromising surroundings afforded by
the coffin of her dead father-in-law , King Henry VI, for whose death Ann holds him responsible. Despite this, and his subsequent admission to the tearful woman that he indeed did as she accuses, kill both her husband and her father, their encounter ends with her tacit promise to marry him. Maeve Larkin, who plays Lady Ann, felt that
the turning point in the scene came when Richard sinks to one knee and offers her a knife with which to kill him, but she is unable to take it.
The Mayor, the King in waiting, and the citizens of London - Act 3 Scene 7One of the most complicated scenes in the rehearsals of
Richard III was the one in which Richard, in order to trick the Mayor of London and the citizens into demanding that he immediately becomes King, stages an elaborate charade. Carefully stage-managed by Richard's loyal allies Buckingham (Mark Stratton), and Catesby (Andy Cryer) the citizens and their Mayor are easily deceived into thinking that Richard is a holy man whose thoughts and aspirations are far removed from the grubby realities of the power-hungry villain he actually is. Buckingham urges Richard to
place himself between two clergymen to lend credibility to Richard?s protestations that
he doesn't want the crown. Richard and Buckingham are ably assisted in their play acting by Catesby who
helps both men to fulfil their plans . The gullible Mayor (Dicken Ashworth) has
his own reasons for wanting order and stability, almost at any price. By the end of the scene Richard has the crowd virtually begging him to become their King. There is a wonderful note of irony at the close when, in response to Buckingham's 'Tomorrow may it please you to be crowned?' Richard replies 'Even when you please, for you will have it so.'
