My Kingdom For A What?

This is the second of the Belper Player’s double bill and is a debut play written by Sophie Mander. Sophie has always been fascinated by King Richard III so much so that she spent a year researching him for her History A Level coursework. Taking a gap year after her A levels she wanted to write a play and for her, a logical choice was to write one about Richard III. It was very obvious from the content of the play that she did indeed know the subject matter inside out. The interest surrounding Richard was aroused four years ago by the discovery of his remains in a Leicester Car Park bringing to the forefront the debate concerning whether he was evil, as created by William Shakespeare, or much maligned as the ‘Ricardians’ would have us believe. Sophie wanted to imagine what Richard himself would think of all the controversy and devised this play in which his ghost appears to Lionel Maddox MBE, now a somewhat forgotten actor, who is revising the role he was noted for - that of Richard III, and the play is being put on in a small provincial theatre in Leicester. Jane Wilton was outstanding as the ‘Director’ of the play, Geraldine Villiers. She has such a natural flair for comedy and her mannerisms, and her inherent acting skills made her an ideal choice for this role and adding the final touch were her outrageous outfits especially, at one point, the wearing of a Leicester Football Club scarf. Mik Horvath was superb as ‘he who likes a drink’ Lionel Maddox. He was resplendently dressed which matched his splendid performance getting every ounce of comedy from the derisory witticisms he delivered and his hilarious antics were sublime. Geraldine gave Richard an amulet which, when trying to read the inscription, caused the arrival of the Ghost of Richard III to appear. The Ghost thinks he is ‘in the here and now’ which alludes to some extremely funny incidents and comments. Josh Sly was in his element as the Ghost, his exuberant, over the top delivery was just perfect and an ideal foil for the interactions between the two ‘Richards’. I thoroughly enjoyed this cleverly conceived insight into Richard’s life brought to fruition by three exceptional actors. Sophie, congratulations on this your debut into both writing and directing - a brilliant achievement on both counts.

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