2013 Company Profiles
MATTHEW GRAHAM
Lighting Designer
Matthew has been Lighting Designer for several of SATTF's productions, including The Tempest and Richard II
See all profiles
Richard III
King Richard III © National Portrait Gallery, London
14 Feb - 30 March 2013
Production Photos: Mark Douet
John Mackay - Richard III, Dorothea Myer-Bennett - Lady Anne
Richard III
The story of the deformed and ruthless Duke of Gloucester who charms, deceives and murders his way to power. Not to be mistaken for historical fact, Richard III is Shakespeare’s most popular English history play and remains as gripping and convincing an account of political intrigue and power-play as has ever been written.
PRESS REVIEWS
****The Guardian: 'Andrew Hilton's superb revival.... As in all Hilton's productions it is the clarity of the storytelling and the attention to detail that makes Shakespeare slip down so easily, with every character brought fully to life. John Mackay...usurps not just the crown, but the very stage itself' (Lyn Gardner)
The Observer: 'Have the ghosts that appear to Richard III ever been better done? ...Fading and glowing in the blackness, the past comes back to haunt the present. How apt that this should be so, just as Richard's own skeleton has been discovered: Andrew Hilton has parked his production with perfect timing. ... John Mackay's Richard is constantly unsettling. He looks like an eel wrapped in velvet, but is as quizzically attentive as a falcon, his head slightly to one side sizing up the prey. He is not histrionic but more dangerous.' (Susannah Clapp)
'Kevin Spacey and Mark Rylance have given us a couple of highly effective Richards recently. Mackay gives a quieter but just as compelling reading of a man who smooth-talks and murders his way to his stint at the top.' (Dominic Maxwell)
'Mackay’s Richard is first-rate. He captures his love of dissembling, his will to power, his desire to control others. He is convincing as seducer, plotter and fighter. He looks unnerving with his peroxide blond crew-cut and his withered arm, uneven gait and his cold dead eyes.' (John Campbell)
'John Mackay, returning to the company in the title role after several successful seasons with the RSC, ensures that Richard is no unhappy hero who falls from power because of a fatal flaw. He both starts and ends a villain, albeit one with audacity and wit who delights in his own wickedness.' (Jeremy Brien)
****Exeunt Magazine: 'The final fight is a work of art: Richard against Richmond, a vigorous and crucial dance between a terrible strength and a beautiful strength.' (Geraldine Giddings)
****The Public Reviews: 'John Mackay flies in the face of expectation and gives Bristol audiences a truly original force of nature in his reading of Richard.' (Shane Morgan)
****The Arts Desk: 'There is a whiff of Tarantino – the spine-chilling combination of black humour and extreme violence.' (Mark Kidel)
****Plays To See: This is a performance which is experienced rather than viewed. Unexpectedly hilarious in its gleeful sadism, it almost mirrors Tarantino in its unrelenting, guiltily pleasurable violence.' (Emily Derbyshire)
'Hilton has once again caught the mood of a play with a light touch and a wonderful gift for coaxing the most beautiful verse-speaking from his cast.' (Eleanor Turney)
8/10 This is Bristol: 'The verbal battle with Lisa Kay's deeply passionate Queen Elizabeth, wonderfully staged by director Andrew Hilton making use of every inch of the acting area, was a scene to savour. (Gerry Parker)
: 'A brilliant performance - controlled, darkly amusing - a man skilled at manipulating his way to the top.' (Harry Motram)
Gazette Series: 'An enthralling journey through our great Bard’s famously unhistorical history.' (Lucy Fulford)
Cast
Jack Bannell Richmond
Christopher Bianchi Edward IV & James Tyrrell
Peter Clifford Lovell
Alan Coveney Hastings
Paul Currier Buckingham
Chris Donnelly 2nd Murderer
Rupert Holliday Evans Clarence & Lord Mayor of London
Marc Geoffrey 1st Murderer & Ely
Nicky Goldie Duchess of York
Joe Hall Catesby
Lisa Kay Queen Elizabeth
Andrew Macbean Henry VI
John Mackay Richard III
Dorothea Myer-Bennett Lady Anne
John Sandeman Rivers & Fight Director
David Collins Stanley
Piers Wehner Grey
Charlie Wilkinson Prince York
& Luke Zollman Thomas
Olly Bell Prince Edward
& James Wearmouth
Production
Director Andrew Hilton
Designer Harriet de Winton
Composer Elizabeth Purnell
“This finely tuned production goes to the heart of Shakespeare’s play, and proves yet again how hard it is to have a bad time at the Tobacco Factory.”
The Observer (on Richard II in 2011)
Join us as a Friend or Patron of SATTF
Join as a Friend or Patron of SATTF and enjoy priority booking plus receive an exclusive invitation to the Director's Talk in January 2013, as well as receiving regular season updates.
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The Bridge Foundation Conference
Saturday 16 March 2013
Once again The Bridge Foundation and SATTF colaborated for a conference using Shakespeare's text of Richard III as its basis. The Bridge Foundation for Psychotherapy and the Arts is a well established Bristol based organisation and which was established in 1984. Therapy and counselling is provided at our main base at Sydenham Rd, Cotham and in a number of outreach places in the inner city area. We have been co-hosting lectures with SATTF since 2006.
