Richard II

Kathryn Walsh Director	Dan Bilodeau Set Designer	Sydney Enthoven Asst. Stage Manager	Jennifer Fok Lighting Designer
Madelaine Foster Props Supervisor	Dominique Nadeau Stage Manager	Elizabeth Rocha Costume Designer	Mandy Spartz Asst. Stage Manager

Rew Tippin Sound Designer

Sally Wood Fight Director

Cast

A.J. Baldwin Duchess of Gloucester, Northumberland, Exton	Christopher Blonski Bolingbroke	Mark S. Cartier John of Gaunt, Keeper	Rebecca Ho Queen, Aumerle, Berkeley, Groom
Tracie Lane York, Marshal, Bagot, Scroop	Christopher Joel Onken Richard II	Michael Wood Carlisle, Green, Ross, Salisbury, York’s Servant	Jaine Ye Thomas Mowbray, Bushy, Willoughby, Percy, Duchess of York, Exton’s Servant

From The Director

A monarch’s speech is performative. In performative speech, when you say a thing, that speaking serves as the action, no follow up needed. Marriage vows are a great example: an officiant says “you are now married” and then, you are. The king’s power in an English medieval hereditary monarchy works much the same way: decrees become law. The king says a thing, and it becomes real. Nothing else is needed.

In practice, however, we know this not to be true. Even in marriage vows, the state has decided it has a vested interest in that status, and so, in reality, you have to sign a document before it becomes real in practice. Something with weight enough to affect the world.

In this play, Richard believes his language is the site of absolute authority. He has the power to make and unmake the world every time he opens his mouth. In practice, the people he rules have a say. Because his words and actions affect their lives, they take action to oppose him. And it turns out, in the face of action, his speech isn’t enough to resist them. Changing the world takes more than language — it needs actions, plans, allies, and support.

What’s so great about doing a play where the site of disagreement is “does speech really make things happen” is that, in every Shakespeare play, speech is what makes things happen. We make things real by speaking them into existence. Someone says, “What castle is this?” and suddenly, there’s a castle. Here’s a person, let’s call him “Richard” and see what happens next.

This company of artists are about to speak an old story into new existence—a story about the absolutely disastrous consequences of having one misguided man position himself above the rest of us, and make decisions for and about us, and how hard we have to work to undo that mistake. Since well before Shakespeare wrote this play, and many, many times since, a leader has failed to meet the needs of the moment, and each time, change requires that people put more than language on the line.