Stratford Festival, Ontario: Three Actors, Directed Zoe Caldwell, 1979

Abstract

Stratford, Ontario, in 1979 featured three different Richards playing opposite three different Bolingbrokes. This was in part an opportunity missed, for had each played against three different actors, more might have been revealed. Unlike the RSC’s venture, actors did not learn more about one role through ‘inhabiting’ their antagonist. This triple casting could be justified only as spreading the best parts around — and a few diligent audience members could see three ways of playing the roles. Casting and direction did not appear designed to show three contrasting interpretations; rather, as with Barton’s production, differences emerged from the personalities of the actors. Nevertheless, the versions gave different answers to the issue of whether Bolingbroke ruthlessly seizes the throne or whether an ineffective Richard gives it up.