Richard III: 1985, Royal Shakespeare Company.Richard III

Director, Bill Alexander; Designer, William Dudley; Photographer, Janet Arnold.Richard III: Director, Bill Alexander; Designer, William Dudley; Photographer, Janet Arnold; (ahds.ac.uk/performingarts): "William Dudley's set for Bill Alexander's stupendous production of Richard III is monumental, a visual metaphor that relates the evil world of Dick the Turd chronologically to Shakespeare's earlier histories. Four massive white tombs, stretching back to perhaps John of Gaunt, possess much of the stage, two on either side, with space for the action and what remains of battered England in between and in front. They are housed in a magnificent Decorated ecclesiastical building, with fine window tracery and mullions: Leo Leibovici's thrilling lighting suggests sometimes that we are in Westminster Hall (Richard's coronation) sometimes in the Abbey. Bosworth Field, at least to Richard, takes place, dream-like, in this hallowed ground." Giles Gordon, Spectator 7.7.84. Opening Date: 19 June 1984 Theatre: Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford.
The trouble with this extremely complex set was that the tombs constricted the actors' movements and served no obvious purpose in advancing the play's action. HMR