Richard II, part 6

November 30, 2013

The story so far: King Richard, bereft of supporters, decides to sulk in Flint Castle and wait for Henry of Bolingbroke to arrive. Not really the greatest plan in the world, but I'm not sure what else he should have done. Gone back to Ireland, perhaps?

Richard seems to have severe mood swings throughout the Flint Castle scene. One minute he's declaiming "God omnipotent is mustering in his clouds on our behalf armies of pestilence, and they shall strike your children yet unborn and unbegot!" The next minute he's all "We'll do whatever you want."

"Down, down I come, like glistering Phaethon, wanting the manage of unruly jades" is another one of those quotes that should be used more often in real life, preferably bellowed melodramatically while standing on a footstool.

I previously addressed the hard task those poor ladies-in-waiting have in trying to cheer up the Queen. In her defense, she has a lot of reasons to be depressed, but she seems to be going out of her way to make her ladies-in-waiting feel totally inadequate.

Richard II is famous for being one of Shakespeare's only plays written almost entirely in verse. Even the gardeners speak in verse, with a couple rhymed couplets thrown in for good measure. However, I have to admit that I can't help giggling internally every time I hear "bind up yon dangling apricocks". It's not just me, is it?

Stay tuned: The big deposition scene is coming up on Monday!

Richard II, part 5

November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving to my American readers!

The story so far: After his inheritance is stolen by Richard II to finance the king's war in Ireland, Henry of Bolingbroke (now Duke of Hereford and Duke of Lancaster) returns to England from exile, rustles up support among the discontented nobles, and starts rounding up all of Richard's supporters. But Richard is on his way back from Ireland...

Bushy, Bagot and Green are referred to by Henry as "the caterpillars of the commonwealth", because they nibble and eat up everything in the garden of England. They were basically politicians (and, crucially, not noblemen) who became Richard's cronies, helping him him consolidate power and leech wealth from the country. You'll notice Bagot isn't depicted here. That's because when the three of them decided to run away in the last act, Bagot decided to run away in a different direction.

"Not all the water in the rough rude sea can wash the balm from an anointed king" is one of those quotes that I think people should try to work into everyday conversation more often. For example:

Them: Are you going to do the dishes?
You: Not all the water in the rough rude sea can wash the balm from an anointed king!

Them: What do you think about England's chances in the World Cup?
You: Not all the water in the rough rude sea can wash the balm from an anointed king!

Them: Would you like fries with that?
You: Not all the water in the rough rude sea can wash the balm from an anointed king!

It might not always make sense, but it will always sound impressive. Give it a try.

Time for another Shakespeare Speech Supercut! The "sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings" speech is second only to John of Gaunt's "this sceptered isle" speech in terms of "speeches people might possibly know from Richard II". I love this speech. Whatever you do, don't say the first lines of it within my earshot, because I will say compulsively say the rest of it, and there will be no way to stop me.

The performances are as follows:

0:00 - An Age of Kings, 1960, David William
1:53 - BBC Shakespeare, 1978, Derek Jacobi
4:28 - Playing Shakespeare, 1982, Richard Pasco
5:59 - Shakespeare's Globe, 2003, Mark Rylance

(Sorry Hollow Crown fans - my clip starring Ben Wishaw and his fabulous turban apparently fell foul of YouTube's copyright detection. It's a fair cop.) I can't decide if I like Jacobi's heart-breaking and pathetic version or Pasco's dry and morbidly ironic version the best. Let me know your preference in the comments!

Due to various local festivities involving the dismemberment of large birds, there will probably not be another installment of Richard II up tomorrow, but I will try to get the Flint Castle scene done for Saturday.

Richard II, part 4

November 27, 2013

The story so far: Richard has banished his cousin, Henry of Bolingbroke. Henry's father, John of Gaunt, then dies. By right of succession, John's wealth and property should be inherited by Henry, but Richard is short of cash to finance his war against the rebels in Ireland (there are always rebels in Ireland), so he seizes all of Henry's inheritance. He then leaves for Ireland. This is very rude and makes lots of people upset.

A word of warning: I've been referring to Henry of Bolingbroke as "Bolingbroke" throughout this endeavor, as that is what he's called most of the time. However, he is also, on occasion, referred to as "Hereford", because he's the Duke of Hereford. So if you see the play and people start going on about Hereford, that's who they're talking about. Don't blame me. It wasn't my idea.

One to watch: Harry Percy (not be confused with his father Northumberland, whose real name is also Harry Percy - but I digress) is pretty much a bit player in Richard II, but he shows up again as the star in Henry IV, part 1. By then he has acquired a really awesome nickname: Hotspur. (Yes, as in Tottenham Hotspur. )

And that wraps up Act 2! Tune in again tomorrow, when Richard comes back from Ireland to find his kingdom might not actually be his kingdom anymore. Oooooo, major drama there, folks.

Richard II, part 3

November 26, 2013

We've finally made it to Act 2! I'm so excited. I feel like my stick-figure beard-drawing skills have improved exponentially over the last week. Stick-figure beards for everyone!

Richard II is packed with awesome speeches, but John of Gaunt's paean to England is the one that has been most successful in escaping into the public consciousness. Here's a collection of filmed performances, for your viewing pleasure:

The performances are as follows:

0:00 - An Age of Kings, 1960, Edgar Wreford
2:01 - BBC Shakespeare, 1978, John Gielgud
3:58 - Shakespeare's Globe, 2003, John McEnery
5:35 - The Hollow Crown, 2012, Patrick Stewart

OK, now that we've got the first major quotable speech of the play out of the way, let's get on with business!

OK, so Bolingbroke is spelled "Bolingbroke", but in most of the productions I've seen it's been pronounced closer to "Bullingbrook", which kind of rhymes with "Falling Book" if you're not listening too closely. Hey, I'm not a linguist: take it up with David Crystal.

Anyways, that's all for today. Tomorrow we'll see Bolingbroke's triumphant return from exile! Ooooh, I bet Richard's not going to be happy about that...

Richard II, part 2

November 25, 2013

Everyone ready for more Richard II? When we last left our dysfunctional group of noblemen, there was going to be a super-exciting duel to the death. Let's see how that turns out...

Fun Fact: Henry (a.k.a the Duke of Hereford, a.k.a. John of Gaunt's son) is called "Bolingbroke" because he was born in Bolingbroke, Lincolnshire. If we did this today, Prince William & Catherine's son George might be known as "Paddington", which, I think we can all agree, would make the world a better place.

The Story So Far: Everybody knows Richard probably ordered the Duke of Gloucester's death, so when Richard's cousin Henry (a.k.a. Bolingbroke) accuses Thomas Mowbray (a.k.a. the Duke of Norfolk) of having killed Gloucester, presumably on Richard's behalf, things get all awkward. Bolingbroke and Mowbray are about to engage in trial by combat when Richard decides it would be a lot neater if neither of them were around anymore, so he banishes both of them: Henry for six years and Mowbray for life. Still with me? Right, moving on...

That's all for today! Now, usually I update this thing only on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, in order to keep me from going completely insane, but my friend has insisted I finish this before I drag her to see the RSC encore screening of their current Richard II production on December 8, so I will be attempting to post updates every weekday between now and then. Check back tomorrow for Act 2, Scene 1, in which John of Gaunt finally gets to give his big speech!

Richard II, part 1

November 22, 2013

Let's get this show on the road! Hold on to your metaphorical hats! Everybody on board the Plantagenet train! Woo! Woo! If you missed my cast listing of Richard II, you can check it out here. Now.... charge!

Still awake? Good, because the play hasn't actually started yet. That was just what happened before the play starts, only everyone keeps referring to it during the play, so you kind of need to know it. Onward!

Time for a quiz!

Q1: Richard is...

A. King
B. Queen
C. Prime Minister
D. A lizard

Q2: Henry (aka Bolingbroke) is...

A. Richard's cousin
B. Richard's son
C. Richard's brother
D. Richard's aunt

Q3: St. Lambert's Day is...

A. September 17
B. October 25
C. February 14
D. Something Shakespeare made up

If you answered "A" to all of them, congratulations! You pass. If you missed the last one, that's OK too. I don't have the Calendar of Saints memorized either. I had to look St. Lambert up on Wikipedia.

That's all for today! Join me again on Monday for Act 1, scenes 3 and 4, in which Henry Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray almost fight a really exciting duel to the death, and then Richard's new favorites gossip cattily among themselves.

Ladies-in-Entertaining

November 21, 2013

First of all, thanks to all my new Twitter followers for... following me on Twitter! I drew a special Thursday fun-time bonus comic just for you.

So, I left a couple fun characters off of yesterday's Richard II cast list, namely the Queen's long-suffering ladies-in-waiting. They are only in one scene, but they try so hard to cheer up the Queen that I thought I ought to honor their efforts here. I've also retroactively added them to the cast list. Rock on, ladies-in-waiting. Rock on.

Richard II: Dramatis Personae

November 20, 2013

Richard II in one sentence: A king called Richard II makes everyone angry when he starts raising taxes and seizing other people's lands, so they depose him and put his cousin Henry on the throne instead.

The challenge: to present Shakespeare's history plays in a way that makes them comprehensible to those who, unlike myself, haven't spent the last ten years memorizing Plantagenet family trees for fun, but have instead been productive and useful members of society. It's not easy, but hopefully this makes Richard II slightly more accessible.

...oh who am I kidding? It's still totally incomprehensible, isn't it? Stick with me! It's a fantastic play, and I promise you it's worth it! Look for more Richard II cartoons in the near future, partly because it is rapidly becoming one of my favorite plays, and partly because cinemas around the world are still intermittently screening the RSC's recent production of Richard II, starring David Tennant, and you should go see it.