Richard II

March 2019 


Richard II 


Richard II.  By William Shakespeare, Directed by Adjoa Andoh and Lynette Linton. Shakespeare’s Globe.  Feb. 2019. Sam Wanamaker Playhouse, London. 


The social and cultural impact of this version of Shakespeare’s Richard II cannot be more clear - all of the actors were women of colour. The choice to give Richard II such treatment speaks to the current climate of theatre, people who have long been underrepresented are being given a moment; they now have a place on the stage and lines of text that they never expected to receive. It is the age of the downtrodden, a time when people are able to rise up and represent themselves, to find their voice. 

It is an important cultural moment, and a necessary social experiment, but what suffered in this production was the story of King Richard. The story being told onstage was a tale of actors from minorities. The set and costuming all reflected the actors themselves, they all wore the clothing of their heritage and had photos of their grandmothers surrounding the stage. The rest of the set gave the impression of a tribal landscape, but with the costuming done to reflect individual heritage, that concept of tribalism did not infuse into the script. This emphasis on how the story was being told left me with a feeling of wanting more. I wanted these women to tell their own stories. The stories of their grandmothers, the stories of their heritage, their stories of being integrated into the England they were hoping to represent. And so for me, the social experiment continues. What does it mean to be part of two cultures at once? What does it mean to be a woman but to acknowledge the reality that the world has been male dominated for the last several thousand years? What does it look like to tell your own story and the story of another at the same time? I honour this brave group of women for taking a risk, but this production is the first step in a long journey that we must take before we can truly understand representation. 

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