Richard III.

Shakespeare’s Richard III, which was first performed around 1593, was one of the playwright’s most successful works even while he was still alive – and its title character continues to fascinate us to this day. It is precisely Richard’s uninhibited, enthusiastically displayed, and single-minded disregard for morality that lends the character his seductive power. Richard is the first of a series of villains in Shakespeare’s works whose masterful art of manipulation would go on to fascinate audiences for centuries. In the tradition of European theater history, Richard’s physical “deformity” became a symbol of moral depravity. This equating of a disability with maliciousness has deeply ingrained itself in the collective cultural memory and continues to shape the way we perceive bodies that deviate from the norm.

The production of Richard III at the RambaZamba Theater radically challenges this way of thinking. Together with the author Antigone Akgün, the RambaZamba Theater and the director Julia Wissert have “overwritten” Shakespeare’s text in order to create a Richard whose seizure of power is a result of his experience with exclusion, ridicule and structural ableism. Instead of appearing as a “demonic tyrant,” Richard comes across as someone who appropriates the social participation that has been denied to him, using any means at his disposal – remorselessly, flamboyantly and relentlessly. Wissert focuses here on the political dimension: Who has access to power? Who may remain visible? And what type of violence is generated by a society that permanently looks down on those it deems to be outcasts?

Wissert, who is known for her political productions with an emphasis on social discourse, worked with the author Antigone Akgün to develop a script that combines Shakespeare’s rhythm and contemporary exaggerations, and which also features dialogue sequences that are marked by anger, humor and a spirit of resistance. The different types of bodies and voices of the actors and actresses at the RambaZamba Theater create a resonance chamber in which the nature of what is considered normal and what constitutes a deviation are repeatedly redefined.

Produced with the support of the Capital Cultural Fund and funding from the Senate Department for Culture and Social Cohesion.