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
Fiona ShawKing Richard II
Sian ThomasQueen Isabel
Graham CrowdenJohn of Gaunt
Paola DionisottiDuchess of Gloucester
David LyonThomas Mowbray
David LyonEarl of Salisbury
Donald SindenEdmund of Langley, Duke of York
John RoganLord Marshal
John RoganBishop of Carlisle
Julian Rhind-TuttDuke of Aumerle
Kevin McKiddHarry Percy
Nicholas GecksBushy
Nicholas GecksDuke of Surrey
Paola DionisottiLady attending the Queen
Paola DionisottiDuchess of York
Richard BremmerBishop of Carlisle
Struan RodgerHenry Percy, Earl of Northumberland

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

Email
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

Email
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)