ED2015 4/5 Reviews ED2015 Theatre Reviews

Richard III (Close Up Theatre)

By Bruce Blacklaw | Published on Monday 31 August 2015

As his headline-hogging car park exhumation confirms, you can’t keep a bad man down. Refreshed ‘for the House of Cards generation’, this lively production sees the sharp suited and impressive, if impossibly youthful (and numerous) cast tear keenly into a script which, while largely faithful to the text, finds neat ways of adding contemporary flourishes such as mobile phones and PR. The fact that Richmond ends the tyrant’s reign by bottling him is possibly some sort of comment on the enduring legacy of the War of the Roses. Not all scenes wholly convince, but this is nicely staged and carried along by the energy and intensity of the fine young cast, Jake Deasy deservedly grabbing attention for his excellent Richard.

Greenside Royal Terrace, until 29 Aug.
tw rating 4/5 | Bruce Blacklaw