Musical theatre based on the tragedy by William Shakespeare
with music by Henry Purcell
Richard, Duke of Gloucester and brother to the king, murders and conspires his way to the English throne. With great candour, Richard tells his audience all about his unscrupulous plans and why he decided to be a villain. The story of the rise and fall of King Richard III that William Shakespeare tells in the historical drama he wrote in 1593 is a textbook example of a tyrant who uses violence to reach the top without having any political vision other than the exercise of power. Director Kateryna Sokolova focuses her production on Richard’s talent for deception: three performers – a singer, an actor and a dancer – portray the many facets of the power-hungry king. Shakespeare’s play and the music of English composer Henry Purcell form the basis of this musical theatre production which Kateryna Sokolova has developed in collaboration with the conductor Benjamin Bayl.
In German and English with German and English surtitles
Introduction to the work 30 minutes before curtain-up
Trailer
Bach Consort Wien
Fabian Tobias Huster, Martina Neubauer, Antoine Amariu:
CAMPUS collaboration with students of Musik und Kunst Privatuniversität der Stadt Wien
After decades of war between the royal Houses of York and Lancaster, peace seems finally to have returned following the coronation of Kind Edward. But Richard, the King’s youngest brother, wants the throne for himself. Physically handicapped and brutalised by the violence of the past, Richard is prepared to go to any lengths to seize power. He plots against his older brother George until the latter is sentenced to death by the King. After the King’s death he has the monarch’s children imprisoned and then murdered. Finally, he cleverly manipulates public opinion to make it look as if his accession to the throne is what the people want. Neither the widows of the murdered family members nor the representatives of the nobility can stop Richard because none of them has remained entirely blameless during the long years of the struggle for power. But because Richard’s rule is based not on a political idea but solely on lust for power, it ultimately crumbles from within. The invasion of an army of rebels led by the Duke of Richmond is just the catalyst for Richard’s downfall.
