RICHARD'S ROLLICK
RICHARD III, by William Shakespeare (Old Vic).
IN this production, King Edward's speech from the final scene of "Henry VI" serves as a prologue. This jettisons the inherent drama of "Enter Richard, Duke of Gloucester. Solus", but it elucidates the intrigues with which the play opens by introducing the principal contestants for power.
Paul Daneman's portrayal of Richard might have been more menacing and less comically frisky. After all, this bloodiest of histories should hardly be guffawed at, and guffaws are prompted by Daneman's chirpiness. Nevertheless, Daneman has his moments, particularly as he hobbles towards the throne, and later when he casts Buckingham away.
Joseph O'Conor's Buckingham is interesting here. But the performance that lifts the •evening is Robert Eddison's Clarence; his eyes cry out. All the sound effects of a film are 'mastered to fill out the other performances.
T.McQ.