Richard II review: ‘has lessons for Trump’

​If Nicholas Hytner’s modern production ever transfers to America you can bet good money after bad that it won’t go to Washington DC’s Kennedy Centre now that the performing arts complex is under new management.

Because although the new self-installed chairman of the cultural hub, President Trump, is not known for his appreciation of Shakespeare, he might shift uncomfortably in his new role of arts maven while watching a play about a head of state whose belief in his right to rule is so absolute he wreaks havoc on his allies, his country and ultimately himself.

While Jonathan Bailey’s prancing prince Fiyero can still be seen on cinema screens in the first instalment of the musical Wicked, his King Richard takes to the stage as a similarly flamboyant figure. However here instead of copious amounts of charm, this royal has a spoilt, psychotic air that is stoked by cocaine.

This royal has a spoilt, psychotic air that is stoked by cocaine

While executing his duties of office this king studies those to whom he gives an audience in a way that might, at first, be mistaken for a kindly monarch’s close attention. But the interested tilt of the head and his laser gaze are, it turns out, the callous curiosity of a reptile eyeing potential prey.

Hytner’s direction is unhurried yet pacey while the Armani-like suits worn by the Plantagenets lend a corporate air to the pre-war first act. This is reinforced by composer Grant Olding’s cheeky score which tilts knowingly at the title music of the series Succession. This is, after all, a play about the conflict to take control of a family business, albeit one that is ruling England.

Jonathan Bailey (left) and Royce Pierreson in Richard II Photo: Manuel Harlan[Missing Credit]

Bailey’s strength is that he makes Shakespeare’s language sound as modern as that spoken by his fellow millennials. In the highly charged scene during which he reluctantly relinquishes the crown to Henry Bullingbrook – played by a solemn Royce Pierreson – he reveals that wit and intelligence lie beneath the shallow hedonism.

His jittery drug-fulled energy only finally gives way to introspection with the time-stilling speech in which his prison cell is populated with the thoughts of the once mighty and now fallen. Possibly not the message that Chairman Trump wants to see on his stage.

Richard II

Bridge Theatre

★★★★