By Eva Phillips
The complexities and nuances of Shakespeare’s tremendous tragedy Richard III are apparent to even those uninitiated to Shakespeare’s antics. Grandiloquent as it is intricate in plot, Richard III boasts being Shakespeare’s second longest play (after some lesser-known play called Hamlet) and the longest in Shakespeare’s First Folio (containing an impressive 36 works including giants of the canon like The Tempest, Midsummer’s Night Dream, Henry IV (Pt. One and Two), and Othello). Ricard III is a wild kind of matrix of overlapping Excel spreadsheets containing a plethora of characters—55 named characters (if you include the specters, and it is Shakespeare, so you must) as well as an assortment unnamed town-folk etc.—a panoply of plots and subplots, an atlas-worth of locations and house/castle names, and a staggering index of British monarchial history. To imagine Richard III brought to life by a mere five intrepid performers in a humble, outdoor arena is to imagine a feat almost as daunting as reciting all of the titular Richard’s bloviating soliloquies backwards from memory.
And yet the team at Steel City Shakespeare Center embraced this challenge with scarcely a heed to the potentially stressful enormity of the task at hand. The small yet forceful and gifted crew of five performers—Ryan Bergman, Kaitlin Cliber, Rachelmae Pulliam, Sebastian Midence, and Sandee L. Rollins—plunged into the sordid and murky depths of Richard III’s prismatic story of envy, deception, woefully flawed transcendentalism, and, of course, murder. Electing to have actors play two or three different roles in a production can be a gamble, so to conceptualize five individuals endeavoring to portray the gigantic assortment of characters in this Shakespearean historical work seemed, at first, jarring. However, the devoted and impassioned players vanquished any doubt at the feasibility of this task, and their rendering of Richard III was not only effective, but it was arguably one of the most enjoyable Shakespearean interpretations of late.
Rachelmae Pulliam as Rivers, Sandee L. Rollins as Queen Elizabeth, and Ryan Bergman as Richard
Richard III’s story is, as I have aggressively hinted at, dense, overlapping the narratives and histories . The play follows the titular, physically deformed antihero Richard (played with snarling, bilious gusto by Ryan Bergman) as he maniacally plots his way to power, galvanized by the disgruntling re-accession to the throne by his brother, King Edward IV (perhaps you’ve heard about the “winter of [his] discontent”). Committed to his assumed nefariousness, Richard grapples with the delicate balance between free will and fatalism, ultimately resolving to enact his free will in the most monstrous ways possible—whether it’s deceiving his fretful brother Clarence (marvelously expressive Kaitlin Cliber) and committing him to the Tower of London; seducing Lady Anne (blithely boisterous Rachelmae Pulliam) despite his hand in the deaths of her father and husband; or heartlessly butchering his cousins, mere children, to keep his grasp on power secure.
The cast members assembled for this production of Richard III simultaneously embody “thespian” in the purest sense—exquisite elocution; exuberant, crisp bravado; and painstaking physical precision—while also performing with refreshing, self-referential looseness. Each actor is as admirably and impressively dedicated to their craft as they are invested in the fun campiness of performing Shakespeare in 2019 (in a public park). As the title role, Ryan Bergman is wonderfully ferocious, sinisterly reveling in the evil of Richard and allowing the audience to devour the succulence of his impeccably robust delivery. Nimbly transitioning from paranoid noble; to screeching, spoiled child; to grieving Lady; to dastardly, menacing Lord, Kaitlin Cliber is unequivocally enchanting and astonishingly versatile, giving each of her roles their own delightful autonomy and spark. Entrusted with some of the more emotionally exhausting moments of grief and mourning, Sandee L. Rollins is consistently and doggedly empathetic, giving incredible heart to characters who can often be perceived by modern audiences as stiff or not relatable. Rachelmae Pulliam, whose introductory moments as the bereaved Lady Anne are some of the finest and most nuanced few minutes I’ve watched in a while, is meticulous and enthralling in her various roles. And finally, Sebastian Midence is not only is effortless in his various performances, but he stands out as a sort of nervous center to the entire production, connecting the synapses and catalyzing movement and feeling throughout his various roles and appearances. Moreover, his Lady Margaret is one for the damn books.
Sandee L. Collins as Queen Elizabeth and Ryan Bergman as Richard
Perhaps most profoundly moving in this adaptation of Richard III is the palpable passion and excitement for the material of the entire cast and crew. It is no small feat to bring any play, let alone Shakespeare, to life in an outdoor arena—against the elements and the potential human or vehicular disruption—and the team at Steel City Shakespeare Center did so remarkably. Director Jeffrey Chips unfettered enthusiasm and love for his cast is abundantly evident and absolutely pays off; and the dynamic, synergistic efforts of dramaturg Courtney Colligan and Stage Manager Sophia Marshall lend to a surprisingly enjoyable and digestible Shakespearean viewing experience.
Experiencing Shakespeare in the elements—particularly in the elements of a town as historically fraught as Pittsburgh—is a unique and even poignant phenomenon that is infinitely enhanced by the talent and eagerness of this group of performers. Richard III should not be missed, rain or shine (or hail, or locust, or whatever other apocalyptic weather Pittsburgh has in store).
Richard III will be performed May 11th-12th at Troy Hill Citizens Park, and May 18th-19th at Fineview Overlook. All performances are 3:00 PM. Suggested donation is $15. For more information, visit Steel City Shakespeare Center’s site.
Photography Credit: Jeffrey Chips
Categories: Archived Reviews