Calling All Portlanders: Go see Richard II at the NWCTC!

I've just returned home from watching King Richard II at the Northwest Classical Theatre Company, and it is an excellent production. Director JoAnn Johnson uses an all-female ensemble cast to tell the (frankly, rather pathetic) story of the deposition of Richard II and the rise of Henry IV. My favorite aspect of the production is Johnson's addition of a Greek Chorus, which harmoniously blends the musical notes of Shakespearean verse with the play's cyclical sense of time, and something that I can only describe as "womb-y-ness." (Like a Wiccan convention at midnight in a dark wood, or one of those workshops where women look at their vaginas in hand-held mirrors.) It's not that patently ridiculous, but the chorus effects a deeply feminine community atmosphere that comforts, even as it reveals all of the decay and doom of the Plantagenet reign.

The ensemble cast is very strong, and the actors who don't capture your attention at first all shine magnificently at some point in the play. Their voices are all low and lovely, very grounded, which doesn't make them seem more masculine, but still somehow authenticates their inhabiting male characters. Likewise, there's perhaps one delicate woman in the cast--otherwise, they are strong, bosomy, handsome women who seem empowered both by the roles, which would ordinarily go to men, and by the bond of ensemble acting. No one ever dominates the stage, which is sometimes frustrating (shouldn't the king overpower his courtiers?), but overall does two really wonderful things: (1) It allows the audience to experience Richard's inefficacy as king, and to squirm just a little in what we imagine must be his shame and humiliation when his subjects ignore his commands, and (2) each actress is able to find little moments in her lines that are so poignant and which would probably be obscured by an overbearing scene partner. The actresses listen to one another and stand almost stock still until it is their turn to speak. The effect is still, solemn and tense.

The play is riveting, which is impressive given that it contains no sex, no fights, and the characters basically alternate between yelling at each other and grovelling at one another's feet. I think it's the passion that infuses every single line delivery, and again, that magic of stellar team work.

This is a show worth seeing; it's certainly Shakespeare worth doing.