8.12 (Sat) 13:00-16:10 Richard III
8.12 (Sat) 18:00-21:00 Romeo and Juliet
8.26 (Sat) 13:00-16:10 Richard III
8.26 (Sat) 18:00-21:00 Romeo and Juliet

Richard III

Director: Rupert Goold

Leading actor: Ralph Fiennes, Vanessa Redgrave

Type: Stage play

Country: UK

Time: 190 min

In 1485, the last king of the House of York and of the Plantagenet dynasty Richard III died in a battle with Henry Tudor. Afterwards, he was hastily buried without a coffin in an abandoned nearby abbey. In 2012, through the use of modern technology, Richard III’s remains were discovered beneath a disused parking lot. 530 years after his death, Richard III was finally given a funeral befitting an English king.

In William Shakespeare’s renown historical play Richard III, King Richard III is described as a deformed hunchback with a twisted countenance that reflects his inner evil: he proves to be a tyrannical dictator who murders numerous people for his own political gains, including two of his own nephews. After two years of his rule, Richard III is overthrown by the Lancaster family, and dies in battle. To this day, historians present contrasting accounts of Richard III, but Shakespeare’s play paints a chilling portrait of the dark sides of humanity, and brings history back to life. Ralph Fiennes, a Tony award winner for his performance as Hamlet on Broadway, plays Richard III in this production, a character who falls deeply into the abyss of hatred and jealousy, and is continually tormented by his internal conflict between conscience and ambition. Ralph Fiennes has starred in numerous other classic on-screen productions including the Harry Potter movie series, Schindler’s List, The English Patient, The Reader, and The Grand Budapest Hotel. Fiennes acts alongside Vanessa Redgrave under the direction of Almeida Theatre’s artistic director Rupert Goold.

Romeo and Juliet

Directors: Kenneth Branagh, Rob Ashford

Leading actor: Richard Madden, Lily James

Type: Stage play

Country: UK

Time: 183 min

How does it feel to direct Romeo and Juliet once again after 30 years? When interviewed by The Guardian, director Kenneth Branagh said: “Yes, 30 years ago Samantha Bond played Juliet and I played Romeo. Today, Paris is played by Tom Hanson, the son of Samantha Bond. So you realize time is moving when that happens.” Just as Branagh states, this Shakespearean classic has withstood the test of time. The enduring vitality and passion inherent in this story can perhaps be considered a characteristic of Shakespearean plays in general: even though we are well aware of how the story will end, we still experience the intensity of emotions during the course of the narrative. As the contemporary English writer Jeanette Winterson, who recently wrote a retelling of Shakespeare’s A Winter’s Tale, once said: “The tamer my love, the farther away it is from love. In fierceness, in heat, in longing, in risk, I find something of love's nature”. In Shakespeare’s classic romance Romeo and Juliet, two lovers who cannot escape or overcome their families’ feud choose to take their own lives. To use Winterson’s words: “There is no love that does not pierce the hands and feet”—an apt description of the fate of Romeo and Juliet. This production by Kenneth Branagh Theatre Live is co-directed by Kenneth Branagh and Rob Ashford, with Richard Madden from Game of Thrones starring as Romeo, and Lily James from Downton Abbey as Juliet. The Daily Mail praised Branagh for his casting choices, with the young stars easily capturing the audience’s attention. Time Out described the production as beautiful, full of passion, and well-paced.

Almeida Theatre

Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company

Trafalgar Releasing

Beijing ATW Culture Media Co., Ltd.

British Council

Arts Council England

BARCO