Richard III

Despair and die!

Richard’s victims torment him at night

The Tragedy of Richard the Third shortened for Richard III, moving forward referred to as R3, played beautifully by Ann Noble brings out more villainy with no shame. She’s amazing to watch. R3 is the longest and most complex play Shakespeare wrote. The story must correlate with the history and that is a heavy task that cannot be rushed. It’s sometimes difficult to translate across the stage. The play has many layers that make them more intense and evil. Noble, read her about her role and future plans in the interview section, plays it cool and cunning.

From the way she smirks at an innocent comment treating it as a great importance but deep inside she sees it as a joke. Noble moves cautiously yet with manipulation, making sure she’s able to leave with nothing preventing her. She keeps Lady Anne, beautifully done by Erika Soto, at arm’s length focusing on what is being said and how it’s delivered. The way she interacts with the innocent Lady Anne is done with gentle prodding and painful to watch. He kills her family and makes it sound like a noteworthy sacrifice instead of a heinous act. He even gives her the chance to kill him by putting the dagger in her hand. You can almost feel her resistance in taking out the man who wiped out her family. He takes the chance to put the blade in her hands knowing she won’t use it. She doesn’t.

His plan is working. She passed the test. She demonstrated that her heart is willing to accept his poetic lies as truth. He admits she serves him until she no longer has a purpose: I’ll have her, but I will not keep her long.

The soon to be king is blood thirsty to rule the kingdom. His questionable charm works well until it doesn’t. Not even his nephews, King Edward V and Prince Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York are safe around him. Both under 10 years old are kept in the Tower, never to seen or heard from again.

Richard easily manipulates everyone without them realizing it they’re being duped. That’s a gangsta move right there. His once confidante, Duke of Buckingham, Lynn Robert Berg makes it a sin to watch as he can match Richards’s energy which makes him a target. In the end, the teacher out schools the student. Meanwhile, Noble crushes it and does a phenomenal job. She chess while others play checkers. R3 is always two steps ahead and makes others look dumbfounded. The way she moves, talks, hell even the way she breathes, she makes it known in subtle ways she’s controlling the narrative.

His uncle George, Duke of Clarence (Randolph Thompason excels in this pivotal role) is the first to go. The innocent nephews disappear. Lady Anne’s vulnerability served him until she became liability. And then, there’s Richard. His unapologetic and villainy had to end. His treachery had to end. He knew it. The kingdom knew it and the audience definitely knew it. Nobel plays this multi-level character with style, cunning and passion wrapped in a warm impenetrable armor.

WHAT: William Shakespeare’s Richard III
WHEN: Now until Sunday, March 8th, Friday, March 6th at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 7th at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 8th at 2 p.m.
WHERE: A Noise Within located at 3352 E Foothill Blvd in Pasadena
RESERVATIONS: Call 626.356.3100 or visit www.noisewithin.org
Show Run Time: 2 and a half hours (Including a 15-minute intermission)