The day Laurence Olivier became a great actor and leader of his profession can be pin-pointed exactly: 13th September 1944 when he acted Richard III for the first time. John Gielgud, with characteristic generosity, gave Olivier the sword Edmund Kean had used when he acted Richard. Olivier, equally characteristically, did not pass the sword on when he died but insisted it should be buried with him at Westminster Abbey. His much-imitated performance is preserved for all time on film.
Since then there have been two great Richards. Firstly by the Russian actor, Ramaz Chkhikvadze, in a brilliant production by Robert Sturua at the Round House in 1980 and then by Ian McKellen, and especially so in Richard Loncraine’s 1996 film version of Richard Eyre’s 1930’s fascist staging for the National Theatre.
Richard III has always been popular with actors and audiences. It’s a great showcase. Richard, single-minded, witty, pitiless, manic, outrageous, is a born actor, the ultimate exhibitionist, and he enjoys playing the Machiavellian villain hugely. Naked in his ambition, his mind is as twisted as his hunchbacked body. His energy is ferocious. His victims liken him to a toad, hedgehog, bottled-spider and hell-hound. Kevin Spacey, very much a star turn and crystal-clear, is very funny when pretending to be at prayer for the benefit of the citizens of London and at his best when he is not in the giving vein in his scene with Buckingham.
Sam Mendes keeps things moving but the cast, which includes British and American actors, shout far too much. Many of them are miscast and the text is garbled. The set is an ugly mass of drab doors. The Princes in the Tower are impersonated by actresses. Mad Queen Margaret – here played as a bag lady – is a difficult role to bring off and only really works if you have seen Shakespeare’s Henry VI trilogy immediately beforehand and know what she is ranting, cursing and raving on about.
The production, which goes on for three hours and 15 minutes, is not thrilling. The one high spot is the urgent drumming during the coronation when Richard, rashly having thrown away his walking-stick, stumbles and falls down as he walks to the throne. All performances are heavily booked. If you want to see Spacey you may have to catch him on the world tour which visits Aviles, Beijing, Epidaurus, Hong Kong, Istanbul, San Francisco, Singapore, Sydney and Brooklyn.