Richard II

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This collaboration between BST and Madison Shakespeare Company, directed by Christopher William Wolter, sets the early play by the Bard in our modern media-saturated times. A political leader steps aside as a populist uprising sweeps the country.... As Will once said, “such stuff as dreams are made on.” ALSO: Saturday & Thursday, Feb. 18 & 23, 8 pm.  

press release: Madison Shakespeare Company, in cooperation with Broom Street Theater, announces the upcoming premiere of Richard the Second. The production runs February 17 through March 11 at Broom Street Theater, 1119 Williamson Street in Madison. Showtimes are Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 PM.

 William Shakespeare wrote Richard II in 1595, near the beginning of his career, about the king shockingly deposed on the eve of the 15th century. For Madison Shakespeare Company's first full-length winter production, director Christopher William Wolter (Drowning & Silence, Death of a Salesman) brings Richard into a modern setting, where control and manipulation of mass media makes—and breaks—the powers of the day. In the play, an ordained political leader must step aside under duress in the face of a mass populist uprising, which ultimately turns violent. The career politician is outmaneuvered by the shrewd manipulator who begins a new ruling family. “The story of Richard the Second should resonate with anyone who follows politics today,” Wolter said.

By staging Richard the Second in an England just as obsessed with image and the control of information as our own world, Shakespeare's tale becomes much more than just a history. It becomes an exploration of rulership, identity and consent that challenges audiences to examine the origins of authority and political power.

The cast features Tia Tanzer (MSC's The Tragedy of Macbeth) as Richard, and Katherine Norman (Interdisciplinary Theatre Studies at UW-Madison) as Bolingbroke. 

Richard the Second will run at Broom Street Theater on Thursdays Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm February 17th through March 11^th  More details will be available on the theater's website bstonline.org . Tickets are $11.00.  For more information contact Broom Street Theater at (608) 244-8338 or reserve at bstonline.org/reserve