An electrifying performance from Tom Mothersdale as Richard lll at Ally Pally theatre on Thursday night. Playing him as a demon trickster figure, he "shoots smirks and shrugs with impeccable comic timing"; the Guardian calls it a "crackling, arachnid performance. With curved spine, tilted shoulder and left leg clamped in a twisted brace, this spider king is brittle". I've never seen anything like it, and didn't realise he speaks so much to the audience – the accoustics, incidentally, are very good, contrary to rumours of inadequacy.
Richard stands out from the rest of the grey-suited male cast by being dressed in black skinny jeans and jacket, and the endless parade of courtiers and aristocrats is relieved by some being played by women – the close-cropped hit-woman Ratcliff is particularly memorable. Curiously, this production begins with a murder that is not even in the play – that of Henry VI – which has apparently been taken from Shakespeare's previous play.
The production has a darkly evocative set – gothic glass-fronted doors in a semi-circle round the back, sometimes opening to let people in and out, sometimes staying determinedly shut, and near the end they double as glass-topped coffins with the images of Richard's murder victims visible through them, turning him suddenly from cynic to madman. There's an upper gallery (like the Globe theatre) which opens into a bright sky for the battle of Bosworth, when the future Henry Vll arrives to bring peace to the nation.
This propaganda-piece for the Tudor dynasty is not my favourite Shakespeare play (well, it is one of his earliest), but this is an amazing performance from Headlong theatre company, transferred here for a fortnight from Bristol Old Vic. Don't be put off by the peculiar posters scattered around the neighbourhood – Ally Pally's first serious theatrical production in the 21st century is well worth seeing. Tickets are still available (it's on till 31st March).
What did other people think of the performance?
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