Richard Goes to the Movies

Some of Shakespeare’s plays were extremely popular during their author’s lifetime, only to fall into relative obscurity in the centuries that followed his death. Others were less successful in their first runs, forced to wait centuries in some cases to have their genius fully recognized and their just desserts duly awarded. And a select few are perennials, as popular today as they were more than 400 years ago. At the top of this class stands Richard III. From the moment the evil hunchback made his stage debut circa 1593, the leading actors of every age have relished the chance to caper and taunt and chew the scenery in the role, just as much as audiences have relished watching the mayhem. Nary a decade has gone by between Shakespeare’s time and our own without some momentarily recognizable figure clumping onto a stage to intone, “Now is the winter of our discontent…” in what he fondly imagines to be his own inimitable fashion, then making his exit some amount of time later with a cry…