Tash Mahnokaren
Staff writer
The works of Shakespeare are timeless and their importance to the advancement of literature and the performing arts is undeniable.
Shakespeare is the most produced playwright in the world. At Idaho State University, there are entire courses dedicated to studying the works of Shakespeare and his performances.
It is no wonder then that it is important for students in actor training and theatre programs to be familiar with and well-versed in Shakespeare. This is one of the motivations behind the production of Richard III at the Stephens Performing Arts Center.
“Beyond that we do it because the words are so gorgeous,” said Norman Schroder, director of the play and theatre professor at ISU.
Richard III picks up at the end of the civil war between the two ruling families of England.
Although the York’s have won, Richard is upset because his brother is dying and he feels that he should be the rightful successor to the throne.
“He gets trapped in the quest for power,” said Shroder. “All he can think of is the next step to getting the throne and keeping it.”
According to Schroder, Shakespeare has been reproduced in foreign languages, and every state in the union including Idaho has at least one Shakespeare festival.
Living in an environment where English is prevalent, the language’s beauty tends to be overlooked by the common speaker.
Shakespeare’s works take us back to a time when the beauty of the English language was flourishing. It takes us back to a time where lords, rulers and common people gathered in galleries to watch his productions and certainly one of the very few times you would find the rich and poor gathered in the same vicinity.
The Renaissance period gave birth to the timeless works of Shakespeare and other revered authors and playwrights such as Christopher Marlowe.
This was also a time when the world was opening up and people were travelling thus, naturally bringing about the creation of new concepts and ideas.
“The language is so intriguing that it holds us in,” said Schroder of the play, “and so the argument, the debate about what it is to be human, to have power, how [people should] behave, is a big draw.”
ISU’s adaptation of the play will not deviate much from Shakespeare’s original production.
According to Schroder, only subtle changes to the language and cuts to the length of the original four and a half hour long production have been made.
“It is set in the history and we have been true to the characters,” said Schroder
Of the theatres in the SPAC, the Bistline Theatre’s configurations hold the greatest comparison to that of Shakespeare’s stages.
The Bistline has a stage that projects into the audience that wraps around on three sides.
“We added some very prominent speaking levels,” said Shroder, “Whether the audience gets it or not I don’t know but we wanted to create the idea of a stage within a stage.”
The stage for the production is also constructed with multiple levels added to the original stage architecture of the Bistline, a common feature of Shakespeare’s stages.
A rose petal texturing also embroiders each pentagonal level of the stage for the production.
The significance of the rose petals relates back to the royal families of England in the play and their power struggle. The Lancaster family was symbolized by a red rose, and the York family was symbolized by a white one.
“They both painted the rose because of their common ancestry,” said Schroder.
Richard III was performed in the Bistline Theatre of the SPAC on Oct. 10, 11 and 13, and will continue on Oct. 17 and 18, at 7:30pm.
