THEATRE
Richard IL By William Shakespeare. (Old Vic and Theatre Royal, Stratford.)
COMPETITION is fierce in the world of theatre these days. The Old Vic had no sooner announced that they were going to produce Richard II as part of this season's programme than Theatre Workshop sent out a publicity hand-out explaining that they were going to do it much better. How pleasant it would have been if they had done so. I am all for people showing up the Old Vic, but this was not it. In fact, Theatre Workshop gave us a dis- tinctly unrcvolutionary interpretation of the play and, in spite of the Marxian analyses produced by some of the audience ('Of course, it's the barons taking advantage of the revolu- tionary feeling of the masses,' I heard one of them telling his girl-friend), this production more nearly resembled an ordinarily efficient repertory company's efforts than anything else. Unfortunately for the balance of the play Joan Littlewood, the producer, seems to have decided that she must weight the scales against Richard by making him particularly herm- aphroditic. In front of the monolithic scenery Harry Corbett is made to posture and pout and ogle, and the effect of it all is to make Richard so utterly unsympathetic that the last speeches become meaningless. The structure of this play is that of a peripeteia, of a reversal of fortune during which the sympathy shifts as the under-dog gets the upper hand (si lose m ' exprimer ainsi), and to make the character of Richard odious is to defeat this purpose.
The error of the Old Vic is different. John Neville plays Richard as the intellectual man, primarily cold, but noble as well. This gives a plausible view of the King's character, but also takes away from the poignancy of the tragedy. It is very difficult to believe that Mr. Neville is feeling anything at all. His poetical musings seem high stilts and nothing else. Yet, this curiously unified piece of acting would do well enough, if there were sufficient contrast with the grossly sensual world around him. This is where the Old Vic production falls down (one might even say that this is where .,!1 Old Vic productions fall down). The total effect of Michael Benthall's direction does not throw the King into relief against the other characters of this violently barbarous world for the simple reason that the other characters are inadequately sketched and do
not act together as a team should. The greatest let-down was Meredith Edwards's playing of John of Gaunt, but perhaps it was unfair to ask him to deal with a part which needs as much power and experience as possible. Here the Old Vic do compare unfavourably with Theatre Workshop, where Howard Goorney made a genuine 'prophet new-inspired,' and where the cast were obviously produced in the true sense of the word. By and large, how- ever, theirs was a better production than that of Theatre Workshop. Mr. Neville was more convincing than the grotesques of Mr. Corbett. But I wish he would not truncate speeches: 'Some poisoned by their wires' may sound a little ludiefous, but it happens to be what Shakespeare wrote.
ANTHONY HARTLEY
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