RSC Associate Artist Greg Hicks leads the cast as Richard III in Mehmet Ergen’s production for the Arcola Theatre. But what have critics been saying about the production?
The Guardian: **** “Even if this modern-dress version makes no attempt to push the contemporary parallels, it boasts a magnetic central performance from Greg Hicks.”
The Stage: *** “It’s a conventional staging, enlivened only by a fine, febrile central performance from RSC associate Greg Hicks as the eponymous schemer.”
Broadway World: *** “his production is more likely to please Shakespeare aficionados rather than first-timers, but, no matter how familiar or unfamiliar you might be with text, characters and context, you can’t help but be astonished at how Shakey’s insights into psychology resonate down the centuries.”
The Upcoming: **** “the entire cast worked well off each other to create an interesting and solid representation of Shakespeare’s political play.”
Exeunt Magazine: “What this interpretation lacks in subtlety and psychological insight, it makes up for in backbone – for that’s what Hick’s performance is in a production that sometimes feels like it doesn’t know what it wants to be.”
The Reviews Hub: **** 1/2 “Greg Hicks’ masterly portrayal of Richard as a thoroughly unpleasant go-getter leaves little room for our sympathy.”
London Box Office.co.uk: *** “The play works. There is some very fine speaking and the play whistles through.”
Culture By Night: “with the exception of the main character and his sinister band, everything feels half-conceived and forgotten about, a winter discontent that in this case does not return to glorious summer.”
The Gizzle Review: “It’s an uncluttered production that tells the narrative lucidly enough, but it feels a little drab overall.”
British Theatre Guide: “This isn’t a production that draws precise parallels with modern politics but it is a warning to make sure that self-interest doesn’t make you lower your guard in a world of fake news and bold lies. Greg Hicks makes the play his as this megalomaniac psychotic, a Richard who has it all worked out.”
Time Out: **** “Hicks’s captivating central performance that stands with the best of recent times.”
The Times: ** “It’s hard to believe in Greg Hicks’s villainous king, which makes this hesitantly staged production feel like a very long three hours.”
The Sweet London Life: *** “With a bit of tightening up, this production could be a regal romp, but it lacks the youthful exuberance, which gives Richard III its teeth.”
Richard III continues to play at the Arcola Theatre until the 10th June. For more information and to book tickets visit: https://www.arcolatheatre.com/event/richard-iii/.