Old John of Gaunt, time-honoured Lancaster…
..hast thou according to thy oath and band brought hither Henry Hereford, thy bold son…
..here to make good the boisterous late appeal,
which then our leisure would not let us hear,
against the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray? -Gaunt: I have, my liege.
Tell me moreover, hast thou sounded him if he appeal the Duke on ancient malice,
Or worthily as a good subject should, on some known ground of treachery in him?
As near as I could sift him on that argument.
On some apparent danger seen in him aimed at your highness, no inveterate malice.
Then call them to our presence.
Face to face and frowning brow to brow…
..ourselves will hear the accuser and the accused freely speak.
High stomached are they both and full of ire. In rage as deaf as the sea, hasty as fire.
(David Giles) What you do in rehearsal is try and look all the time…
..for ways of making the text live.
It is to put the emotion in with the intellect that is…
..the most dangerous, difficult and private part of the rehearsal process.
I always worry about over- simplifying what a play is about,
as much as I would worry about simplifying what, by saying what a picture was about.
I think anything like this plays on different people in different ways.
(Narrator) Shakespeare's plays, though handed down to us as text,
were written to be performed.
The text really only comes to life when it's in production.
Actors and directors are crucial in bringing their own imagination and skill to a play.
In this programme, we're going to look at three very different productions of Richard II…
..and talk to the actors and directors involved.
They reveal a wide range in the way they interpret the character of the King,
and the different elements of the play.