9 September - 9 October 1993

RICHARD II

by William Shakespeare

King Richard II LINUS ROACHE
John of Gaunt, Abbot of Westminster JAMES MAXWELL
Lord Marshal, Lord Ross, Sir Stephen Scroop,
Duke of Surrey RICHARD BREMMER
Henry Bolingbroke NEIL DUDGEON
Thomas Mowbray, Earl of Salisbury, Gardener, Exton's Man DAVID FIELDER
Duchess of Gloucester, Duchess of York SUE JOHNSTON
Duke of Aumerle, Lord Berkeley PETER HAMILTON DYER
Sir Henry Green, Gardener's Assistant, Keeper of the Prison at Pomfret PETER RYLANDS
Sir John Bushy, Lord Fitzwater EWAN BAILEY
Sir John Bagot, A Welsh Captain, Sir Piers Exton SIMON HARRIS
Duke of York EWAN HOOPER
Mowbray's Herald, Harry Percy DERMOT KERRIGAN
Bolingbroke's Herald, Duke of York's Servant, Lady in Waiting, Groom CLAIRE RUSHBROOK
Earl of Northumberland FRED PEARSON
Lord Willoughby, Bishop of Carlisle WYLLIE LONGMORE
Queen Isabel SUSAN LYNCH
Servingmen and Officers HOWARD CHADWICK
JOSEPH MURRAY
ANDY SMITH
ANDREW WHITEHEAD

Director JAMES MACDONALD
Designer KANDIS COOK
Lighting JOHANNA TOWN
Sound REBECCA WATTS
Music MARK VIBRANS and COLIN THORPE
Fights TERRY KING
Text Work HELEN STRANGE

ÔLinus Roache leads a fine, full and unadulterated version of RICHARD II directed by the promising James Macdonald...Roache's Richard is a real original: a sardonic, taunting, Gary Oldman-ish king who crouches in a suspended septagonal cage racked with doubts...A marvellous performance. Roache is superbly foiled and partnered by Neil Dudgeon as a scarfaced, confidently spoken young Bolingbroke. Fred Pearson is a lovely Geordie Northumberland, Sue Johnston an impressive pair of duchesses. Michael Coveney The Observer

Ô...the Royal Exchange Theatre in Manchester has come up with a fine production...Linus Roache gives a superb performance as the petulant boy-king...There's also strong support from a company of actors of the calibre of James Maxwell, Wyllie Longmore and Sue Johnston...Kandis Cook's design places the period in a luscious medieval miniature, with lavishly persuasive fourteenth-century costumes and a hard-flagged palace floor that reflects the moods of Johanna Town's lighting.' Robin Thornber The Guardian

...a major, substantial production.' Jeffrey Wainwright The Independent