Author: Tara Daley
Though the spring weather is inspiring procrastination all across campus, the Theater Department is hardly slacking off as they gear up for this spring’s mainstage production “Richard II.”
The play, part of Shakespeare’s second historic tetralogy, tells the tale of 14th-century King Richard II of England as he struggles for power and eventually falls from the throne. Taking on Shakespeare is an arduous task, but this has not by any means deterred the cast and crew.
Since January, they have been diligently preparing for the production, devoted to doing the play justice both theatrically and historically. Performing Shakespearian plays requires intensive research and training, but fortunately enough, the cast is led by an expert: Theater Professor John Bouchard. Bouchard, who teaches “Performing Shakespeare,” among other classes, is the production’s director and guru.
Bouchard adapted the script slightly to make it clearer, as the play was originally written as Shakespeare was experimenting with form and style. “By editing, it helps fix some of the inherent problems with the script,” said Alex Marshall (senior), but this certainly does not make the subject matter easier to tackle.
To add another element into the mix, several cast members take on multiple roles in the play, which is both constructive and at times confusing. “Having friends become enemies and vice versa can be disorienting at times,” said Marshall, who only has one role. But Jeff Bee (senior) expresses the potential benefits of this casting choice. “The two characters I play are quite different, which makes it even more of a joy to play. I enjoy playing the dutiful soldier in Sir Piers Exton, but I love being Bushy [Richard’s wingman].”
Each cast member must fulfill not only his or her assigned roles as actors, but must also be sure to understand their characters as important historical figures. Bee spoke further on the special demands of performing Shakespeare, expressing that their challenge as actors “is to first understand [Shakespeare’s] language, understand why it’s being said, and then say his words as naturally and genuinely as our characters would. It is much more difficult than it sounds.”
Acting in a respectable, college-level Shakespeare production is what Marshall describes as an “invaluable [experience] to auditioning and getting work early on.”
Though challenging, participating in a Shakespearean play is a great experience, indispensable to an actor’s growth. “I’m a firm believer that no matter how many books you read on acting, or how much natural acting talent you think you might have, you can only get better at acting by acting, and you learn even more by acting Shakespeare because of its difficulty,” said Bee.
With a hard-working cast studded with some of Oxy’s finest actors, and a script packed with ever-popular themes of treachery, greed and wavering power, “Richard II” is a production you won’t want to miss.
“Richard II” will be showing in Keck Theater on April 16-18, and 23 & 24 at 7:30 p.m., April 25 at 2:00 p.m. and May 15 at 8:30 p.m.
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