Richard II

Richard, son of Edward the Black Prince, ascended the throne of England at the age of 10. Shakespeare’s Richard II tells the tale of this elegant, luxurious monarch who was “too favorable” to his enemies, and too blind to the exploitation of the people by his favorites. He is stripped of his wealth, power, and kingdom, and with them his sense of self. Humiliated and alone, Richard wrenches his mind form the public cares of state to an existential contemplation that prefigures King Lear and engages Shakespeare’s greatest skills as poet and philosopher. Robert Woodruff directs.