Richard II (27 page)
Authors: William Shakespeare
Square brackets indicate events that happen just outside a play’s timescale but are mentioned in the play.
CRITICAL APPROACHES
Brooke, Nicholas, ed.,
Shakespeare: Richard II: A Casebook
(1973). Invaluable collection of early criticism.
Coyle, Martin, ed.,
William Shakespeare: Richard II,
Icon Critical Guides (1998). Informative introduction with useful collection of historical criticism of play.
Fanell, Kirby, ed.,
Critical Essays on Shakespeare’s Richard II
(1999). Useful collection of influential late twentieth-century essays.
Hattaway, Michael, ed.,
The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare’s History Plays
(2002). Excellent general introduction to the histories with illuminating essays on individual plays.
Hodgdon, Barbara,
The End Crowns All: Closure and Contradiction in Shakespeare’s History
(1991). Thoughtful general introduction plus chapters on individual history plays, focusing on theatrical conclusions: chapter 5 on
Richard II
, pp. 127–50.
Holderness, Graham,
Shakespeare’s History Plays: Richard II to Henry V,
New Casebooks (1992). Theoretically informed collection of important late twentieth-century critical essays.
Holderness, Graham,
Shakespeare: The Histories
(2000). Useful account of historical context and a chapter on each of the individual plays,
Richard II
at pp. 175–216.
Kantorowicz, Ernst H.,
The King’s Two Bodies: A Study in Mediaeval Political Theology
(1957). Influential development of the thesis of the natural versus the political body of the king.
Lopez, Jeremy,
Richard II
, The Shakespeare Handbooks (2009). Useful guide with chapters on early performance, sources, context, criticism, key productions, and textual commentary.
Sieman, James R.,
Word Against Word: Shakespearean Utterance
(2002). Fascinating detailed linguistic account.
Brooke, Michael, “
Richard II
on Screen,”
www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/1027840/
. Overview of television versions, with clips.
Hattaway, Michael, Boika Sokolova, and Derek Roper, eds.,
Shakespeare in the New Europe
(1994). Fascinating account of the continuing international significance of Shakespeare’s plays; includes Nicholas Potter, “ ‘Like to a Tenement or Pelting Farm’:
Richard II
and the Idea of the Nation,” pp. 130–47; Michael Hattaway, “Shakespeare’s Histories: The Politics of Recent British Productions,” pp. 351–69.
Jones, Maria,
Shakespeare’s Culture in Modern Performance
(2003). Thoughtful introduction with detailed account of recent performances; the chapter on
Richard II
focuses on the use of the crown as a prop.
Page, Malcolm,
Richard II: Text and Performance
(1987). Good basic introduction to the text in Part 1 with a detailed discussion of important performances from 1973 to 1984.
Rauen, Margarida Gandara,
Richard II Playtext, Promptbooks and History 1597–1857
(1998). Detailed account of early texts and editions of play.
Shewring, Margaret,
Shakespeare in Performance: King Richard II
(1996). Useful introduction—Part 1 discusses the text, Part 2 individual productions and performances, Part 3 the play in other cultural contexts.
Smallwood, Robert, ed.,
Players of Shakespeare 6
(2004). Actors discuss their performances: Sam West on Richard II, pp. 85–99, David Troughton on Bullingbrook/Henry IV, pp. 100–16.
Richard II
, directed by Deborah Warner (1997). Recording of successful stage production with Fiona Shaw as Richard; contentious cross-casting produced a haunting performance, discussed above.
Richard II
, directed by David Giles (1978, DVD 2005). Part of the
BBC Shakespeare series. Derek Jacobi gives a bravura performance as Richard in a star-studded cast with John Gielgud as Gaunt.
Richard the Second
, directed by John Farrell (DVD 2001). Updated, contemporary version: reasonable performances but sound levels poor. Not for purists.
Richard II,
directed by William Woodman (1982, DVD 2001). Well-meaning but misguided.
The Wars of the Roses
, directed by Michael Bogdanov (1989, DVD 2005). Recording of English Shakespeare Company’s eclectic stage production with Michael Pennington, a compelling Richard.
1.
Tim Carroll, “ ‘Practising Behaviour to His Own Shadow,’ ” in Christie Carson and Farah Karim-Cooper, eds.,
Shakespeare’s Globe: A Theatrical Experiment
(2008), pp. 40–1.
2.
Nahum Tate,
The History of King Richard the Second Acted at the Theatre Royal Under the Name of the Sicilian Usurper
(1681), sig. A2.
3.
Charles Beecher Hogan,
Shakespeare in the Theatre 1709–1800
(1952).
4.
Lewis Theobald,
The Tragedy of King Richard the II; As It Is Acted at the Theatre in Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields
(1720), sig. A2.
5.
Theobald,
The Tragedy of King Richard the II
, p. 59.
6.
Thomas Davies,
Dramatic Miscellanies
(1783–84), Vol. 1, pp. 151–3.
7.
Davies,
Dramatic Miscellanies
, p. 124.
8.
Margarida Gandara Rauen,
“Richard II”: Playtexts, Promptbooks and History: 1597–1857
(1998), pp. 141–9.
9.
William Hazlitt,
A View of the English Stage
(1818), p. 100.
10.
Leah Scragg, “Introduction,”
King Richard II: Richard Wroughton 1815
(1970).
11.
Theodor Fontane,
Shakespeare in the London Theatre 1855–58
(1999), pp. 52–3.
12.
Punch
32 (January–June 1857), p. 124.
13.
Birmingham Daily Gazette
, 24 April 1896.
14.
Malcolm Page,
Richard II
(1987), p. 48.
15.
The Times
, 19 November 1929.
16.
The Times
, 30 December 1952.
17.
Birmingham Mail
, 22 April 1933.
18.
Stratford-upon-Avon Herald
, 25 April 1941.
19.
Evening Dispatch
, Birmingham, 24 May 1944.
20.
Birmingham Mail
, 14 June 1947.
21.
Quoted in Margaret Shewring,
Shakespeare in Performance: King Richard II
(1996), p. 97.
22.
News Chronicle
, 26 March 1951.
23.
Shewring,
King Richard II
, p. 88.
24.
Shewring,
King Richard II
, p. 335.
25.
Shewring,
King Richard II
, p. 231.
26.
Eve-Marie Oesterlen,
Cahiers Élisabéthains,
Special Issue (2007), pp. 69–70.
27.
Page,
Richard II
, p. 54.
28.
The Times
, 30 March 1972.
29.
Henry Fenwick,
Richard II: The BBC TV Shakespeare
(1978), p. 24.
30.
Michael Bogdanov and Michael Pennington,
The English Shakespeare Company: The Story of “The Wars of the Roses” 1986–1989
(1990), p. 107.
31.
Bogdanov and Pennington,
The Story of “The Wars of the Roses,”
p. 139.
32.
John Pettigrew and Jamie Portman,
Stratford: The First Thirty Years
(1985), Vol. I, p. 175.
33.
Terry Doran,
Buffalo News
, quoted in Pettigrew and Portman,
Stratford
, Vol. II, p. 159.
34.
James Fenton,
You Were Marvellous
(1983), p. 257.
35.
Independent
, 14 June 1995.
36.
Shewring,
King Richard II
, p. 182.
37.
Observer
, 9 October 2005.
38.
Independent
, 9 October 2005.
39.
Sunday Times
, 9 October 2005.
40.
Telegraph
, 6 October 2005.
41.
Royal Shakespeare Company Season Guide 2007–2008
, p. 7.
42.
The queen is reported to have said this to William Lambarde, the keeper of the records of the Tower.
43.
RSC Season Guide 2007–2008
, p. 2.
44.
Stuart Hampton-Reeves, “Theatrical Afterlives,” in Michael Hattaway, ed.,
The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare’s History Plays
(2002), p. 229.
45.
Theater program, 1951.
46.
Hattaway,
The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare’s History Plays
, p. 354.
47.
Jan Kott,
Shakespeare Our Contemporary
, trans. Boleslaw Taborski (1964), p. 10.
48.
Colin Chambers,
Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company
(2004), p. 36.
49.
Shewring,
King Richard II
, p. 98.
50.
Coventry Evening Telegraph
, 16 April 1964.
51.
Birmingham Post
, 16 April 1964.
52.
Shrewring,
King Richard II
, pp. 100–1.
53.
Harold Hobson,
Sunday Times
, 16 April 1964.
54.
The Times
, London, 16 April 1964.
55.
Alan Dent,
Financial Times
, 16 April 1964.
56.
Warwick Advertiser
, 17 April 1964.
57.
Irving Wardle,
The Times
, London, 11 April 1973.
58.
Robert Shaughnessy,
Representing Shakespeare: England, History and the RSC
(1994), p. 91.
59.
Ernst H. Kantorowicz,
The King’s Two Bodies: A Study in Mediaeval Political Theology
(1957), p. 7.
60.
James Stredder, “John Barton’s Production of
Richard II
at Stratford-on-Avon, 1973,”
Shakespeare Jahrbuch
(1976), p. 24.
61.
Stredder, “John Barton’s Production of
Richard II
,” p. 25.
62.
Stredder, “John Barton’s Production of
Richard II
,” p. 29.
63.
Andrew Gurr, ed.,
King Richard II
(1984), p. 48.
64.
B. A. Young,
Financial Times
, 11 April 1973.
65.
Shaughnessy,
Representing Shakespeare
, p. 94.
66.
Stanley Wells found the scene “illustrates a danger of Mr. Barton’s production methods; that, at their extremes, they were directing their audience what to think” (quoted in Shewring,
King Richard II
, pp. 124–5).
67.
Michael Billington,
Guardian
, 12 April 1973.
68.
J. C. Trewin,
Birmingham Post
, 11 April 1973.
69.
Irving Wardle,
The Times
, London, 4 April 1980.
70.
Chambers,
Inside the Royal Shakespeare Company
, p. 70.
71.
Shaughnessy,
Representing Shakespeare
, pp. 64–5.
72.
Irving Wardle,
The Times
, London, 5 November 1980.
73.
Hampton-Reeves, “Theatrical Afterlives,” p. 239.
74.
B. A. Young,
Financial Times
, 4 April 1980.
75.
Shaughnessy,
Representing Shakespeare
, p. 61.
76.
Wardle,
The Times
, 4 April 1980.
77.
Shewring,
King Richard II
, p. 59.
78.
Nicholas Shrimpton, “Shakespeare Performances in London, Manchester and Stratford-upon-Avon 1985–6,”
Shakespeare Survey
40 (1988), p. 180.
79.
Jane Edwardes,
Time Out
, 17 September 1986.
80.
Stanley Wells,
Times Literary Supplement
, 26 September 1986.
81.
Giles Gordon,
Plays & Players
, November 1986.
82.
Eric Shorter,
Daily Telegraph
, 12 September 1986.
83.
John Peter,
Sunday Times
, 14 September 1986.
84.
RSC program,
Richard II
(1990). The quote is from Marie Louise Bruce,
The Usurper King: Henry Bolingbroke 1366–99
(1986).
85.
Maria Jones,
Shakespeare’s Culture in Modern Performance
(2003), p. 152, quoting Harry Eyres,
The Times
, London, 13 September 1991.
86.
Jones,
Shakespeare’s Culture in Modern Performance
, p. 153.
87.
Michael Coveney,
Observer
, 11 November 1990.
88.
Michael Billington,
Guardian
, 9 November 1990.
89.
Malcolm Rutherford,
Financial Times
, 12 September 1991.
90.
Russell Jackson, “Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Avon: Summer and Fall, 2000,”
Shakespeare Quarterly
52 (2001), p. 114.
91.
Alastair Macaulay,
Financial Times
, 31 March 2000.
92.
Susannah Clapp,
Observer
, 2 April 2000.
93.
Michael Dobson, “Shakespeare Performances in England, 2000,”
Shakespeare Survey
, 45 (2001), p. 276.
94.
Dobson, “Shakespeare Performances in England, 2000,” p. 276.
95.
Patrick Carnegy,
Spectator
, 8 April 2000.
96.
John Peter,
Sunday Times
, 9 April 2000.
97.
John Gross,
Sunday Telegraph
, 2 April 2000.
98.
Clapp,
Observer
, 2 April 2000.
99.
Carole Woddis,
Stratford Herald
, 4 April 2000.
