You probably haven’t read anything by Shakespeare since high school unless you’re one of the increasingly rare UCSD literature majors or had to take one of those pesky college writing requirement classes. Even more likely, your knowledge is limited to “Romeo and Juliet,” “Macbeth,” “Hamlet,” and/or “Taming of the Shrew.” But with the Old Globe Theatre and the University of San Diego presenting a very accessible and impeccably directed version of “Richard III” at the Cassius Carter Centre Stage, this is the perfect time to reacquaint yourself with the lesser known works of the Bard.
Director Sabin Epstein did a superb job casting the production. Dan Hodge, who plays Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, effortlessly portrays one of literature’s most notorious villains. The simultaneously charming, conniving and deformed character is played with an ease that is rarely seen in young actors in theater these days. Though Leah Zhang as Lady Anne overdramatizes some of her lines and reminds one of a young teenager desperately trying to sound grown-up, the rest of the actors in the Young Globe Company are flawless in their performances. Kate Turnbull, in particular, becomes the seemingly unlikely heroine of the production as the Duchess of York. Even some old snoozing couples in the audience snapped to attention when she first made her entrance with a poignant and powerful rebuke of her wayward son, the Duke of Gloucester, and daughter-in-law, Queen Elizabeth.
Keeping in synch with the design of the Cassius Carter Centre Stage at the Old Globe, the set and costumes are very sparse. Costume designer Shirley Pierson gives the assumptions behind Shakespeare’s characters a twist; the female characters retain 18th-century hairstyles and plain dresses while the men wear a modern assortment of everything from biker jackets to nondescript suits. The Cassius Carter Centre Stage itself is a small, intimate “theatre in the round” in which the audience sits no more than four rows from the stage. Though it allows one to view the play from up close, there are times when watching the back of an actor while listening to his lengthy soliloquy gets frustrating. The mirrors hung up on all four walls of the small theater are distorted, which makes trying to watch the actors at all times futile. However, the actors make use of all four exit stairways during the play with Jason Bieber’s excellent light design, making one feel like a silent extra in the play. All in all, “Richard III” is a sharp, modern version of Shakespeare’s original play.
Student tickets are $12 and can be purchased at 619-234-5623 or http://tickets.theoldglobe.org. “Richard III” runs at the Cassius Carter Centre Stage in the Old Globe through Nov. 20.
