We know that when actor Kevin Spacey and director Sam Mendes team up, on-screen excellence is likely. The duo that perfected American Beauty in 1999, both of whom won their respective categories for Best Actor and Best Director, in addition to many other titles and accolades, have teamed up again in London, but this time they are displaying their talents on stage. Their excellent satirical work about the American mindset and lifestyle spills into London’s Old Vic Theatre in Richard III in the form of political satire, but that’s about all that’s similar. Now Spacey, who is also the artistic director of the Old Vic, and Mendes, who has run the trans-Atlantic theatre production company the Bridge Project since its start in New York in 2002, have put together a fiery version of Shakespeare’s classic work that really strikes a chord with the people of London.
Spacey and Mendes claim that their most recent on stage production is based on Libyan dictator Muammar el-Quaddafi and North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il, but with recent media and political shenanigans in London, the blurring of the lines between who in charge is innocent and guilty strikes a very significant chord at home. The folding of Rupert Murdoch’s disgraced The News and World due to their phone-hacking scandal exemplifies the situation, as the “where to place the blame” game has led the UK public around in circles, a game that Spacey perfects as King Richard. Looking both manipulative and innocent, strong leader and dirty dealer at the same time, Spacey brilliantly exemplifies the source of public feeling of mistrust of both the media and authority figures. As quoted by the UK Guardian “Spacey gives an authoritative account of the self-loathing in which villainy gestates.”
Richard III will be playing at the Old Vic Theatre in London through September 11th before coming to America for a New York run. Quite possibly the only poor comment about the play is that it is mainly focused on Spacey- but Shakespeare wrote Richard III to be focused on the tyrannical ruler, so this is probably only to be expected. Overall, a fantastic production- having sold out most nights already- that will be etched in the history of the Old Vic as one of the greats.Also, might I add, it was much better than other television options I had that night.
