| When a directorıs vision and an actor's abilities mesh, the result can be explosive and compelling. Such is the case in the Orlando-UCF Shakespeare Festival's "Richard III." With Shakespeare, a director will often make the mistake of treating a concept like a net in which one captures and then displays the drama for view. The real trick is to begin with the conceptual net and then to unravel it knot by knot, to allow the monstrous genius to burst forth. This is especially true for a a larger- than-life character like Richard III. Richard is an icon anti-hero. The errors other productions have made with Richard is to lean toward an excess on either side of the icon. Shakespeareıs poetry is dense and there are many values a director may choose to set free. Some of the most compelling are the descriptions of Richard: "poisonous bunch-backıd toad," "bottled spider," "abortive, rooting, hog," "creeping venom'd thing," and the emblem of Richardıs banner, the "wretched, bloody, and usurping boar." Clearly Richard is emblematically more beast than man. As interpreted by director Jim Helsinger and brought to life by actor Dan McCleary, the festival's Richard is a bestial icon, a cunning | creature that deceives, seduces, bullies and murders his way to the throne. With a badger-like stripe through his hair, the muscular McCleary uses forearm crutches to enhance his physical acting . At times nimbly scuttling like a spider, at times stalking on all fours like a wolf, and at times using the crutches like the tusks of a wild boar in battle, McCleary's virtuoso performance is compelling in and of itself. As always, Helsinger does a fine job in telling the story, aided again by a marvelous technical team. Leary's costume design again set off Richard and his henchmen in murderous reds and blacks. Phillipıs set design is an ingenious collection of "black velvet" portrait tapestries that are ripped down as each successive victim of Richard falls. (And trust me, you canıt tell the bodies apart without a scorecard in "Richard III.") The famous nightmare sequence is also stunningly staged, with a haunting original score by Daniel Levy. Space limitations make it impossible to credit other deserving performers, but McCleary is supported with an excellent ensemble. This talented group of artists has unraveled the knots, letting loose the monstrous Richard to simultaneously horrify, thrill and delight us as he has for centuries. |
