Richard II
- Synopsis
- A production, re-staged for television, of the National Theatre’s 1995 production of Richard II directed by Deborah Warner with Fiona Shaw in the title role.
- Language
- English
- Country
- Great Britain
- Medium
- Television
- Technical information
- Colour / Sound
- Transmission details
- 22 Mar 1997 at 20:15 (Channel: BBC2)
- Duration
- 130 mins
Credits
- Director
- Deborah Warner
- Producer
- John Wyver; Shaun Deeney
- Cinematographer
- Peter Mumford
- Writer
- William Shakespeare
- Music
- Arturo Annecchino
- Production Design
- Hildegard Bechtler
- Costume
- Hildegard Bechtler
- Cast
Additional Details
- Theatre company
- National Theatre Company
- Production type
- Television and Radio Drama
- Historical period
- Medieval
- Plays
- Richard II
- Subjects
- Drama; Shakespeare
- Keywords
- Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Gender reversal; Traverse stage
Notes
- Notes
- DVD version released as part of the Screen Plays series by Illuminations Media on November 24 2016.
- Figures
- Viewing audience of 496, 000 (consolidated viewing)
5% share of the viewing audience of BBC2 for that day
(Figures provided by BARB, the Broadcasters Audience Research Board, 1997) - Reviews
- According to Bernard Adams, reviewer for the Times Educational Supplement, as a production of "long and pitiless close-ups" this adaptation is "interestingly poised between being a film and a play" ('Risk that pays off’, 28 March 1997).
Fiona Shaw on her decision to play Richard II: "I certainly had no intention of playing a man. ... The way I look at it is that I am a non-man playing somebody who perceives himself to be a non-man." Quoted in Radio Times 22-28 March 1997, p. 7.
Of the stage production Michael Billington writes - "The audience is bisected by a traverse-stage roughly the length of a cricket pitch. This gives extraordinary urgency to the Bolingbroke-Mowbray tournament at Coventry where we become neck-craning spectators half expecting to see horses galloping out of the end doors. But it also puts us throughout in the position of eavesdropping spectators on this royal debacle and leads to striking images." Michael Billington, The Guardian, 5.June 1995
Production Company
- Name
BBC
- Notes
- The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
- Name
Illuminations
- louise@illuminationsmedia.co.uk
- Web
- http://www.illuminationsmedia.co.uk External site opens in new window
- Phone
- 020 7288 8400
- Address
- Studio 121, ScreenWorks
22 Highbury Grove
London
N5 2EF - Notes
- Illuminations produces and distributes programmes on arts-related subjects, some of which are made for television and others in conjunction with cultural institutions to accompany specific exhibitions. Many titles are available for sale on DVD, including continuing series on leading contemporary and twentieth century artists and modern architecture, as well as a few programmes on religion, drama, history and ideas.
- Name
Sept ARTE
Sponsor
- Name
NVC Arts
Archive
- Name
BFI National Archive
- Web
- http://www.bfi.org.uk/archive-collections/searching-access-collections/research-viewing-services External site opens in new window
- Phone
- 020 7255 1444
- Fax
- 020 7436 0165
- Address
- 21 Stephen Street
London
W1T 1LN
- Name
Learning on Screen Off-Air Recording Back-up Service
- services@bufvc.ac.uk
- Web
- http://bufvc.ac.uk/tvandradio/offair External site opens in new window
- Phone
- 020 7393 1514
- Fax
- 020 7393 1555
- Address
- For Learning on Screen Members only
77 Wells Street
London
W1T 3QJ
How to cite this record
Shakespeare, "Richard II". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/shakespeare/search/index.php/title/av69251 (Accessed 05 Dec 2024)