The New Murrey and Blue blog

Review by Maria Leotta

On 14^th February, Saint Bede’s Centre in York witnessed an event that will stay in the memory of all those who were lucky enough to secure a seat.

The Ricardian actor Andrew Slade performed in One King, two Princes and Shakespeare’s Lie a monologue that lasted for about an hour and had been already acclaimed as an impeccable performance at the Edinburgh Fringe last summer.

Andrew Slade appeared on the stage dressed as Richard III with a black cloak and a massive hump that was revealed to be a bag with three objects that represented his reputation. One of them  (constantly shown during the performance) was a little statue of two children clearly referring to the Princes in the Tower, his nephews, always associated with Richard III, an episode of medieval history fed by Tudor propaganda that has tainted his reputation for centuries, a curse, a burden, as the actor showed when he revealed that the hump actually was a bunch of lies and slander created by Shakespeare, amplified by Thomas More and forced on him by biased historical speculations.

Richard entered the scene and started to speak in the first person, telling the audience all about himself, a sort of confession with details of those episodes that affected him deeply such as his father’s death, the escape to Flanders to preserve his life, the relationship with his brothers, Edward and George, the deaths, the grief, the accusations, the struggle, his sudden coronation, the kingship, the effort to protect his nephews, the loss of his wife and son and eventually the bitterness of treason and betrayal among the other things. He also spoke about his love for his subjects, his sense of duty, his piety, his strengths and his weaknesses.

Andrew brought onto the stage Richard the man, the duke, the king, the orphan, the father, the brother, the husband, the friend, his essence, his soul.

Before the performance, the audience had received a print with a rose on each side, a white rose and a red one. In the end we were asked to show one side. Needless to say, not a single red rose was in sight. This happens at the end of every performance.

Before heading to his hotel, Andrew talked to the spectators, who asked him questions and congratulated him.

Everyone noticed how involved he was while performing as the king and he admitted that he needed to “de-Richard”, as it could be tiring to be in the king’s shoes.

Andrew is very knowledgeable about Richard’s life. He even mentioned a story involving a pig, a tale that needs additional investigations.

This play will be performed in Middleham during the Ricardian festival on the first weekend of July and again in Edinburgh in August.

Richard III will again be on the stage waiting for you; which rose will you show him?