Richard 2nd

Word Perfect – believable Paul Morris – Richard II – majestic, with the adornments and trappings of a king by birthright, but whose indecision and poor politicking – would eventually lose him his throne. Jane Steeves played John of Gaunt with conviction. Stoic in his love of England, Jane gave a truly moving performance as the dying patriot left bereft by his ‘noble’ England, being used as a bargaining chip by an ineffectual king. ‘Honour is my life’, Tarquin Taylor – Henry Bolingbroke – had both physical and emotional ownership of his character.

The ladies of the cast did an excellent job as ‘men’ in the cast, Mary Onions, Fiona Kettle, Sophie Chadwick, Alexandra Maldonado Dyboski and Alice Shaw all met the challenge of the male persona in the roles they played. Bert Widmann, Dekyong Webb and Duncan Woodruff, the gentlemen that played a number of roles between them, moved seamlessly between their characters and costume changes.

I must also mention the talented flautist whose beautiful music drifted across the glorious garden setting as dusk settled. Watching Shakespeare in the open air in beautiful green places, in the middle of a city, has been an absolute pleasure.  The noisy celebrations that were nearby were a minor distraction to the audience and the players were not fazed by it at all.  I was reminded that in the 1500s when Shakespeare’s work was presented, it would have been noisy and generally open to the vagaries of the environment.

Congratulations Michael Gould, the director of our entertainment, your wonderful players did you proud.

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