Richard the Third, In a Circus
A Proposal By James Travers(Director), Laura Beaumont (Producer), Sian Baxter
(Stage Manager)
Hi there.
The Play
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Richard III
Richard the Third is one of the bard’s history plays, set during the wars of the roses.
As the play opens, Richard’s older brother, Edward IV, has just taken the throne. It
soon becomes clear that Richard, a hunchback born ‘rudely stamp’d’ has other plans
for the crown. What follows is a maelstrom of seductions, murders, betrayals and
lies. Richard talks and kills his way to the top, only to ultimately find his undoing at
the hands of Henry VII.
As it stands, the play is too long to sensibly be staged. Having worked with a
Shakespearean text before, I (James) feel comfortable cutting the text of the play to
a manageable and pacey form if this proposal is successful.
Why would it be good for SuTCo?
Let’s start with the big question. Why should you vote for the show? We’ve compiled
a small list for your perusal.
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The potential for involvement is huge. With a full cast and tech team, we
could easily get 40 people involved in the show.
Shakespeare always sells, and Richard the Third is one of his most
popular shows.
The setting is unlike anything we’ve seen for a while. Who doesn’t want to
go to a terrifying, nightmarish circus?
There would be great opportunities for collaboration with other parts of the
university and union (more on that below)
It’d be awesome.
The Team
James Travers (Director): I’ve acted and dsm-ed for SuTCo, and in the first
semester of this year I directed King Lear. I loved the experience, and would be keen
to have another opportunity to direct, hopefully this time pushing myself, the cast and
the tech team even further than I did last time.
Sian Baxter (Stage Manager): Techy stuff I have done is: Sound op for 'blood
brothers' at the Plowright theatre, Scunthorpe. Light op for a third year performance
in the drama studio a few months ago, Sound op for the Rover in the drama studio.
Co-directed with Duck Egg Theatre Company and general stage hands stuff for
many a production at college and work.
Laura Beaumont (Producer): Having acted in a Sutco production this semester, I’m
really keen to expand my involvement within this society by being part of the
production team. I have been in charge of gaining sponsorship for the Engsoc netball
team so feel confident in reaching out to places and gaining their enthusiasm and
financial support. I’m organised, sociable and really look forward to the challenge of
getting the university and Sheffield excited about Richard III (I also don’t embarrass
easily so will wear stilts or dress-up as a lion to help promote!).
The Setting -
The Circus
If you’re looking for a world filled with backstabbing, deception and occasional
physical violence, where else but the world of performing arts. While the characters
won’t be literally mapped onto the world of the circus, the look and feel of the show
will be taking its inspiration from it. There are two primary reasons for this. Firstly,
doing a play with a vibrant, exciting setting is always a good thing. Secondly, Richard
III is in many ways about performance. Richard has long interactions with the
audience, and portrays himself vastly differently to everyone he is involved with. We
feel that the circus setting would allow us to highlight the performative aspect of the
play, as the audience watch Richard convince those around him of whatever he
pleases.
By Circus, we don’t mean a charming, family friendly circus. We mean the sort of
place where the lions eat the tamers and clowns eat children. Bright colours, dark
themes. Richard will be portrayed as rising to the position of ringleader, controlling
and manipulating those around him.
The idea, then, is that it looks, or at least feels, like a circus. It’ll be up to the set
designer how they want to achieve this, as it’s more the idea of the place than a
literal representation of it that we need. I don’t understand lights, but I’d like circus-y
lights. What I do know is that I’d like to see how far we can push lighting, and
experiment with things like doing the lighting live on stage using big torches.
Additionally, I have been in contact with Flying Teapots (the circus skills society)
about the possibility of teaching members of the cast basic circus skills to create a
greater feeling of Circus.
Western Bank Library houses the National Fairground Archive. “The National
Fairground Archive (NFA) was inaugurated by the Vice Chancellor of the University
of Sheffield in 1994, with the support of the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain and the
Fairground Association of Great Britain. Housed in the Western Bank Library, it is a
unique collection of photographic, printed, manuscript and audiovisual material
covering all aspects of the culture of travelling showpeople, their organisation as a
community, their social history and everyday life; and the artefacts and machinery of
fairgrounds. Our key collecting areas include fairs, shows, magic and illusion, circus,
variety, entertainment spaces such as the sea-side, pleasure garden and
amusement park, and many aspects of variety and performance. The NFA
collections are continuing to grow: there are now over 80,000 images in the
photographic collection, in addition to audio and video material, journals and
magazines, and nearly 4,000 monographs. The collection also includes a unique
body of ephemera (programmes, handbills, posters, charters and proclamations,
plans and drawings).”
So if we were successful, the designers would have access to a vast quantity of
material to take inspiration from. The librarians who work at the NFA have already
said they’d be happy to help with this. Which is awesome.
The Characters
The size of the cast will depend on which week slot we get, but it’ll probably be
somewhere between 20 and 30 people. Most of the roles are gender neutral, but
there are a few, Richard, Margaret, Anne, The Duchess of York, who would probably
have to stay their written gender. Lots of people (apart from Richard) will be playing
more than one role. As with the tech, we want the performers to take their inspiration
from the circus, though no one will be required to play a lion or an elephant.
Richard III: Shakespeare’s Richard is so enduring a character that he has been
accused of obliterating the true historical record of the man. He seduces a woman he
widowed over her father in law’s coffin. He charms the audience into supporting his
murderous schemes. A challenge and a joy for any performer. One of the great
theatrical roles.
Buckingham - Richard’s right-hand man in his schemes to gain power. The duke of
Buckingham is almost as amoral and ambitious as Richard himself.
King Edward IV - The older brother of Richard and Clarence, and the king of
England at the start of the play. As king he is devoted to achieving a reconciliation
among the various political factions of his reign. He is unaware that Richard attempts
to thwart him at every turn.
Clarence - The gentle, trusting brother born between Edward and Richard in the
York family. Richard has Clarence murdered in order to get him out of the way.
Queen Elizabeth - The wife of King Edward IV and the mother of the two young
princes (the heirs to the throne) and their older sister, young Elizabeth. After
Edward’s death, Queen Elizabeth (also called Lady Gray) is at Richard’s mercy.
Richard rightly views her as an enemy because she opposes his rise to power, and
because she is intelligent and fairly strong-willed. Elizabeth is part of the Woodeville
family; her kinsmen—Dorset, Rivers, and Gray—are her allies in the court.
Anne - The young widow of Prince Edward, who was the son of the former king,
Henry VI. Lady Anne hates Richard for the death of her husband, but for reasons of
politics—and for sadistic pleasure—Richard persuades Anne to marry him.
Duchess of York - Widowed mother of Richard, Clarence, and King Edward IV.
The duchess of York is Elizabeth’s mother-in-law, and she is very protective of
Elizabeth and her children, who are the duchess’s grandchildren. She is angry with,
and eventually curses, Richard for his heinous actions.
Margaret - Widow of the dead King Henry VI, and mother of the slain Prince
Edward. Margaret was the wife of the king before Edward, the Lancastrian Henry VI,
who was subsequently deposed and murdered (along with their children) by the
family of King Edward IV and Richard. She is embittered and hates both Richard and
the people he is trying to get rid of.
There are of course, more characters. There’s freaking loads. But this is a
representative sample. We’d be looking for performers to put their own stamp on
their characters, especially given their need to distinguish them because of multiroleing.
Publicity
We think that the strong visual identity of the play will make it easy to publicise, from
the trailer and poster to the city rally where the “circus theme” in particular, will be
something that can be utilised to attract audiences.