Richard II

Synopsis: A video recording, using a single, fixed camera, of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 2000 studio production of Richard II. Directed by Stephen Pimlott with Samuel West as Richard.
Series: This England: The Histories
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Video
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Recording date: 29 Sep 2000
Duration: 180 mins

Director

Steven Pimlott

Writer

William Shakespeare

Music

Jason Carr

Animator

Sue Wilmington

Cast

Samuel West	King Richard II
Catherine Walker	Queen Isabel
Alfred Burke	John of Gaunt
David Troughton	Bolingbroke
Janet Whiteside	Duchess of Gloucester
Adam Levy	Harry Percy
Alexis Daniel	Duke of Aumerle
Alfred Burke	Gardener
Christopher Saul	Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland
David Killick	Edmund of Langley, Duke of York
Dickon Tyrrell	Bagot
Janet Whiteside	Duchess of York
Keith Dunphy	Lord Ross
Paul Greenwood	Bishop of Carlisle
Paul Greenwood	Thomas Mowbray
Paul McEwan	Sir Piers Exton
Paul McEwan	Bushy
Sam Cox	Lord Willoughby
Tim Treloar	Groom of King Richard’s stable
Tim Treloar	Gardener
Tim Treloar	Captain of the Welsh army
William Buckhurst	Keeper of the prison at Pomfret
William Buckhurst	Green
William Whymper	Earl of Salisbury
William Whymper	Lord Marshal
William Whymper	Abbot of Westminster

General: This England: The Histories was a season of Shakespeare’s history plays staged by the Royal Shakespeare Company in 2000-2001. The company staged both of Shakespeare’s tetralogies of history plays so that audiences could see all eight plays over several days. The plays staged were: Richard II, Henry IV, part 1, Henry IV, part 2, Henry V, Henry VI, part 1, Henry VI, part 2, Henry VI, part 3, and Richard III. The RSC retained the same actors in the same role, but gave different plays to different directors.
History: Press night 29 March 2000. The production transferred to the Barbican.
Stills: "For Richard II to appear in a grey, polo-necked sweater and black suit may cause alarm among traditionalists. But in Steven Pimlott’s impressive production, played upon an all-white stage bare but for upright white chairs, a rectangular wooden crate and a grave-shaped earth-mound, the decision to opt for contemporary dress proves oddly illuminating. It launches the RSC’s cycle of history plays in provocative style." Nicholas de Jongh, Evening Standard (30 March 2000).
Reviews: Loveridge, Lizzie ‘Richard II: A Curtain Up London Review’ at http://www.curtainup.com/richard2royalshakespeare.html. Based on the performance of 22 January 2001 at The Pit, Barbican Centre.

Name: Royal Shakespeare Company
Web: https://www.rsc.org.uk External site opens in new window
Address: Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Waterside
Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire
CV37 6BB

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