Denice Hicks’ Vision of Richard III Exceeds All Expectation

“Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this sun of York.”—And thus begins one of the longest, most convoluted tales ever spun by the Great Bard himself—Richard III.

Now don’t read me wrong; I love and appreciate Dear Old Uncle Will’s work as much as the next theatre geek and Richard III is one of the benchmarks of his prodigious talent , but let’s face it: there have been some gods-awful renditions of this epic work—which is already harder to make out at times to the casual viewer than the Simirillion written in Klingon.

There is a huge cast that just keeps coming and going…mostly going…and the old English just makes a lot of people’s eyes glass over like they were watching UPN on Friday night. It’s not just a hard piece to perform, it’s a hard piece to watch for the ADD impaired.
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With director Denice Hicks at the helm in their latest production, Nashville Shakespeare Festival has truly achieved and in ways exceeded all expectation of an organization that is part of the prestigious Shakespeare for a New Generation initiative. Once more proving that Shakespeare can be fun and entertaining while still educating and illuminating at the same time. Hicks has long been known as an innovator in the name of The Bard, but with her genius vision of Richard III reset as a vaudevillian melodrama she truly deserves the praise being heaped upon her.

Starting with the opening announcements, and going all the way through a lively retouch on “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and the organist accompaniment throughout, theatre-goers are treated to anything but a boring lesson in history. Over-the-top is just the tip of the iceberg in this presentation as Hicks craftily transforms this epic tragedy into a tragic-comic tour-de-force including original music by Tom McBride evoking the period as much as the opulent costumes by June Kingsbury or the minimalist stagings constructed by Paul Gatrell.

In this ambitious re-telling, The Yorks have replaced The Lancasters as the headliners at The Palace and Richard (played to the conniving hilt by Navada Shane Gordon) is plotting to do away with his ailing brother and take his place as The King of entertainment at The Palace. But first, there are all these pesky nephews and other sundry family members who have to be dealt with. What’s a sneaky snake-in-the grass like Richard to do?

Why hire his own murderous moppets in the form of Tyrell and Catesby portrayed as Abbot and Costello meets the Three Stooges and something creepy from a Neil Gaiman novel by the amusingly ambidextrous talents of Jessejames Locoriere and R. Alex Murray. However, it was the stellar performances of Nan Gurley as the strong willed Queen Elizabeth and Brenda Sparks as the irrepressible force that is Queen Margaret that stole the show.
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Never have I seen the two sovereigns rendered as perfectly engaging as these women deliver in their pathos.

This weekend is your last chance to see The Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s Richard III. Box office opens 1 hour before curtain. Tickets to public performances on sale now at TicketsNashville.com. Thursdays-Saturdays, 7:30 p.m.; Sundays, 2:30 p.m.through Feb. 1, 2009.