History is always written by the victor. After Henry Tudor defeated Richard III at the battle of Bosworth, Tudor Historians created the elaborate fiction of a deformed usurper who schemed and murdered his way onto the English throne. But who was the real Richard III?
Drawing on contemporary sources, unsullied by Tudor propaganda, ‘Good King Richard’ dramatises for the very first time, the true events which propelled Richard onto the throne of England and two years later, led to his downfall. This is a tale of murder, betrayal, rebellion, revenge and political intrigue, starting with the drowning of the Duke of Clarence in a butt of Malmsey and ending on the eve of the Battle of Bosworth.
A century after Richard’s death, the testimony of his greatest enemy, Cardinal John Morton provided the basis for a celebrated play which would colour attitudes to Richard for four centuries. ‘Good King Richard’ finally sets the record straight.
A very special episode, and a first for Tabling: The Podcast! We were able to get our mic into Day One of rehearsals for the upcoming world premier of 'Good King Richard', performing at the White Bear theatre in London, UK. Good King Richard runs from on Dec. 8-20 and tickets can be found here.
The entire cast and crew sat around the table, upstairs above a Kenington pub, reading through and discussing this new work for an entire day. Co-director and writer, Ian Dixon-Potter, allowed us to record the discussions for Tabling, which we are now happy to share to our audience. As a new work and a contemporary interpretation of a classical figure - notarized by William Shakespeare - the discussions weaved between the plays structure, the historical facts and interpretations, as well as the ambitions and intentions of the characters.
While the microphone sat in the middle of the table, the cast went through pick and prodding the text, analyzing and questioning - exactly the type of discussion which Tabling: The Podcast hopes to show to our audience! Please let us know if you would like to hear more of this format - recording day one of an actual production - by tweeting @tablingpodcast, or emailing tablingpodcast@gmail.com
The Cast:
- Zara Banks as Margaret Beaufort
- Albert Clack as Bishop Morton
- Peter Collington as King Edward IV
- Catherine Dunne as Elizabeth Woodville
- Ben Harper as Lord Buckingham
- John McLear as Lord Hastings
- Will Mytum as Henry Tudor
- Nicholas Koy Santillo as King Richard III
*Technical Note* We have done all we can to improve the audio quality of the recording. As this was a special allowance, and the focus was on the rehearsal, the audio quality is not ideal, and we apologize for that.