Adjoa Andoh shines in a slightly blended manufacturing of Richard III at Liverpool Playhouse, transferring quickly to Rose Theatre, Kingston
“There’s many a gentle person made a Jack”
A primary journey again in 30-something years to Liverpool Playhouse noticed us absorb Richard III, offered to me simply on the presence of Adjoa Andoh as main actor and director of the manufacturing, following on from her incendiary work in Richard II and eternally capturing my coronary heart as *my* Serafina Pekkala method again when. She is, naturally, stellar within the title function however elsewhere within the manufacturing, a set of decisions don’t essentially repay in the best way they might.
The programme notice tells us Andoh’s need to discover the play by the prism of her personal experiences rising up as a Black child within the Cotswolds within the 60s and 70s – inevitably, irrevocably othered. And in an arresting opening scene, a maypole dance turns right into a brutal bullying episode, suggesting an alternate origin story for this most infamous of Shakespearean villains – malevolent or maybe simply maligned?
It’s an enchanting studying of the character and one which Andoh sells for a big swathe of the present. Subverting what we expect we all know all the time takes some getting used to however her idiosyncatic interpretation of the verse guides us fairly successfully down this path by the Cotswold countryside. It can’t fairly stick the touchdown although, given the dastardly nature of a lot of what Richard does afterward, no quantity of late lamenting could make him a really empathetic determine and we’re left with an odd style within the mouth.
The relocation of the manufacturing doesn’t fairly come off both. Morris dancers are actually a terrifying idea however they’re used very sparingly; certainly, there’s puzzlingly few overt references that may situate it with any actual specificity (the visitations are very nicely performed although). Instead, patchy accent work proves a relentless distraction and Maybelle Laye’s costume design of similar white pyjamas has the impact of flattening the ensemble, which is an actual difficulty in a primary half stuffed with supporting characters who must be higher delineated so one know what is going on at court docket.
Bright spots do emerge with some performances – Joseph Kloska’s manipulative Buckingham is a shot within the arm to many a scene and Rachel Sanders’ Elizabeth is splendidly impassioned as her losses mount. But for each plus – lighting designer Chris Davey’s creation of vivid silhouettes – there appears to be a minus – Yeofi Andoh’s folk-inflected rating by no means fairly integrating with the manufacturing, too typically an intrusion slightly than an innovation. A little bit of a irritating one, in all honesty.