Richard II

Play (1597)
by William Shakespeare

With Malcolm Ingram (John of Gaunt, Gardener, Bishop of Carlisle), Dough Lockwood (King Richard II), Marya Lowry (Duchess of York, Earl of Northumberland), Paula Plum (Queen to King Richard, Duke of Aumerle), Michael Forden Walker (Henry Bolinbroke), Robert Walsh (Duke of York) Lewis D. Wheeler (Thomas Mowbray, Henry Percy, Welsh Captain, Servant, Groom)

The first time I went to an ASP production it was at the end of their first season. It was Julius Caesar and was mounted at the theater space at the Cambridge YMCA in Central Square, so this, in a way, felt like old home week.

Richard II is a quite involved political tale about the unseating of Richard II (Doug Lockwood) after he banishes two young men who are at odds with one another, one of whom is Henry Bolingbroke (Michael Forden Walker), who winds up coming back to topple Richard and become King Henry IV. There are a lot of subsidiary alliances, but the main arc of the play is about the humbling of an existing king who is full of bravado and presumably soiled by at least one dastardly act, by the coming to power of another with great equal bravado and great promise.

Lying in the background, as the fulcrum of this regal displacement, is the murder of Gloucester and the lurking sense that Richard is behind it. That very bad karmic liability leads to the violence between Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray (Lewis D. Wheeler), their mutual punishment of exile, Bolingbroke’s building of a coalition while theoretically exiled, and his return, despite banishment, to England to take over the throne.

The really great thing about this play is the incredible poetry throughout. This production, under the able guidance of Artistic Director Allyn Burrows, does a wonderful job of making that poetry comprehensible, accessible and enjoyable.

Malcolm Ingram as John of Gaunt is remarkably good in his rendition of the aging lord who aches with the removal of his son. He also doubles up as the Bishop of Carlisle, which he also delivers with impeccable skill.

Doug Lockwood is very effective as Richard. His long soliloquies, particularly at the end, about the diminution of power and the humiliation of a fall from grace, are exquisitely rendered.

Paula Plum plays Duke of Aumerle with vital gusto, and then immediately turns around and gives clear account of the queen, Richard’s wife.

As Henry Bolingbroke, Michael Forden Walker offers a reading that is, seemingly intentionally, somewhat laid back in its earlier stages, showing the force of the character near the very end.

Robert Walsh (Duke of York) and Marya Lowry (Duchess of York, Earl of Northumberland) and Lewis D. Wheeler (Thomas Mowbray, Henry Percey, et al) provide articulate and supportive presence throughout.

Sound design and original music by Arshan Gailus add dimension and texture, gracefully framing the resounding poetry and its dramatic embrace.

– BADMan