Play review – “Richard III” by William Shakespeare

After three historical works which concentrated on plot and action, Richard III (really Henry VI Part IV - it helps to have read the previous three plays) saw Shakespeare step up a level. For the first time he focuses on the one protagonist, enabling him to dig deeper into a character eg murder of Clarence involves dialogues among the assassins as to the nature of their work, Richard’s motivations.

There are some great drama scenes where women get stuck into Richard, a satirical one where Buckingham tries to whip up enthusiasm for Dick, and powerful stuff such as the killing of the princes and the final battle when it all goes down for Dickie. There’s too much attention paid to Richmond (later Henry VII) at the end – who cares about this character by then? But I guess Will had to suck up to the boss.