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Richard III

Review

In a piece of tawdry Tudor propaganda, Shakespeare's achievement was to create one of world drama's most fascinating characters.

Rob Bartlett's achievement is to leave no doubt of that in the joint production by Southsea Shakespeare Actors and HumDrum.

Bartlett's Richard is no pantomime villain but a man whose evil is nurtured by the suffering he has endured because of his deformity.

He is black in sudden rage, particularly when mocked. He hammers brutishly at the severed head of a victim with his stick. More subtly, he betrays a genuine longing to be liked.

He is both seductive and funny, but sinister in his smile of satisfaction at his coronation.

Bartlett also has the measure of the verse.

In a play where few other characters have time to develop before dying, the other great virtues here come from director James George.

He should be ruthless in cutting the text, and some scenes need more impetus, but the fluidity of movement is admirable - helped by use of a platform and double staircase on a smoky stage.

George also achieves one of the most sheerly beautiful pieces of blocking I have seen in amateur theatre - in the scene where Richard' s victims haunt his dreams.

And he neatly has them stay on stage to represent the two armies at Bosworth.

Another strength is the avoidance of the sense of eternally wailing women to which the play is prone. Christine Sinclair's Margaret, for example, is powerful without screeching.

Strong performances also come from other experienced members of both companies.

Mike Allen The News