Lord Denney's Players and Department of English present Shakespeare's Richard II.
Performance times are April 17-18 at 7:30 p.m and April 23-24 at 7:30 p.m.
Richard II is a play from Shakespeare's mid-career that exists in multiple versions. This production will explore the thematic significance of the deposition scene when Richard gives up his crown (about 150 lines of scene 4.1), which is the major difference between the earliest and latest forms of the surviving texts.
Early performances and publications of the play lacked this scene, likely because the image of the forced resignation of a king was considered too inflammatory for an Elizabethan public concerned about royal succession; indeed, the play itself was used as a rallying point by the Essex rebels who sought to use it as historical precedent for their 1601 rebellion.
The production on April 17 and 18 will be presented without the deposition scene; the performances on April 23 and 24 will include it.
Many of the Ohio State English faculty are experts in the legal, political and popular contexts in which the various texts of Richard II were produced, and our April production will bring this scholarship to bear in demonstrating the two distinct versions of the play available to English audiences between 1597-1623.
The cast and crew for the production includes a broad range of students from English, theatre, creative writing, philosophy and more, as well as faculty and staff members.
Running time is approximately two hours. Performances will be proceeded by short pre-show lectures from OSU and visiting faculty and followed by talkbacks with the cast and crew.
Tickets will be available March 27; $5 for students, $10 general admission. To reserve, call (614)-292-6065 or visit this link.
For more details, visit the Department of English website.
