The Tragedy of Richard II

April 17-24, 2015

Van Fleet Theatre, Columbus Performing Arts Center

Lord Denney’s Players’ first production, William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Richard II, premiered on April 17, 2015, and ran for four nights. The play featured the acting talents of Ohio State undergraduates, graduate students, staff, and faculty, and was crewed by undergraduates in an upper-level Shakespeare class taught by Assistant Professor Sarah Neville, who also directed the production.

LDP’s production of Richard II featured two differently performed cuts of the play. The first weekend’s shows were based off of the original quarto editions of the play, which do not include what is commonly referred to as the “deposition scene,” an extended scene at the beginning of Act Four where Richard publicly abdicates his throne to his cousin Bolingbroke. The scene is first printed in the collected works of Shakespeare in 1623 and its exclusion from earlier editions of Richard II, has prompted many Shakespeare scholars to speculate about the censorship of this scene in print and its original performance on the stage.  

Lord Denney's Players was the first company, as far as we know, to stage both versions of Richard II in the same production, experimenting with the implications of including, or excluding, the remarkable deposition scene.

“Before taking part in the Richard II production, I never had the chance to get involved in theater. Having the opportunity to act and design costumes for the show was such a new and wonderful experience and has permanently changed the way I approach Shakespeare.”

- Emory Noakes

Videos↓

Full Production: The Tragedy of Richard II

Trailer: The Tragedy of Richard II (Official Trailer)

Video Discussions:

• The Making of Richard II

• Why Richard II?

• Professor Neville on Richard II

• Team Richard or Team Bolingbroke?

• The Significance of the Deposition Scene

Cast and Crew↓

CAST

• Fitzwater—Aaron Banks, a fourth year majoring in English.
• Willoughby—Justin Bauer, a senior majoring in English .
• Aumerle—Aliyah Cohen, a sophmore majoring in Psychology and English.
• Bagot—Taylor Davis, a third year majoring in Theatre.
• Queen Isobel—Corey Debelak, a third year senior in Pre-Law, English major with a Folklore minor.
• Duchess of York—Torsa Ghosal, a Phd candidate in English.
• Lord Marshal—Matt Gmetro, alumna of English.
• John of Gaunt—Richard Firth Green, a member of the English Department.
• Gardener—Hannibal Hamlin, a Professor in English at OSU, speciliazing in Renaissance Literaure.
• Northumberland—Ryan Heitkamp, BA in Theatre and Communication from OSU.
• Gardener's Assistant—Manny Jacquez, a Phd student in the Department of English.
• York's Servingman—Brian Javor, a staff member in the Department of Arts Administration, Education, & Policy.
• Bishop of Carlisle—Dan Knapper, a graduate student in the English department.
• Bolingbroke—Annie McAlpine, a recent graduate majoring in English and Lingustics.
• Duchess of Gloucester—Sarah Neville, an assistant professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance literature.
• Bushy—Amy (Emory) Noakes, a fourth year majoring in English with a minor in Creative Writing.
• Green/Keeper—Nicholas Poe, a sophomore majoring in English and Theatre.
• Mowbray/Exton—Micah Rickerson, a PhD student in the English department.
• King Richard II - Ellie Rogers
• Groom/Welsh Captain—Hannah Russ, a sophomore majoring in Chinese language and English Pre-Education
• Duke of York—Antony Shuttleworth, taught in the English Department at Ohio State since 2000.

CREW

• Director—Sarah Neville, an assistant professor of Shakespeare and Renaissance literature.
• Assistant Director—Manny Jacquez, a Phd student in the Department of English.
• Dramaturge—Erin Kelly, a Senior Lecturer at The Ohio State University.
• Assistant Dramaturge—Aaron Banks, a fourth year majoring in English.
• Assistant Dramaturge—Ryan Heitkamp, BA in Theatre and Communication from OSU.
• Stage Manager—Micah Rickerson, a PhD student in the English department.
• Assistant Stage Manager—Aliyah Cohen, a sophmore majoring in Psychology and English.
• Assistant Stage Manager—Matt Gmetro, alumna of English.
• Front of House/Business Staff—Meghan Dannemiller, a junior majoring in English (Pre-Education) and Spanish.
• Front of House/Business Staff—Jessica Duncan, a junior majoring in English.
• Fight Coordinator—Sarah Dunlap, a PhD candidate in the Department of English.
• Lighting Technician—Brittany Koza, a senior majoring in English.
• Costume Coordinator—Rebekah Priebe
• Costume Designer—Kaitlyn Hartman
• Costume Designer—Alexandra Lendon, a junior majoring in Italian and English.
• Costume Designer—Amy (Emory) Noakes, a fourth year majoring in English with a minor in Creative Writing.
• Props Manager—Elizabeth Lyle
• Set Designer—Nicholas Poe, a sophomore majoring in English and Theatre.
• Set Designer—Zachary Dean, a junior majoring in English
• Promotions Advisor—Hannibal Hamlin, a Professor in English at OSU, speciliazing in Renaissance Literaure.
• Promotions Coordinator—Emma Royce, a junior majoring in English and philosophy.
• Promotions Coordinator—Patrick Esguerra, a junior majoring in English and philosophy.
• Promotions Coordinator—Kristen Gramajo, an English and Psychology major.
• Promotions Coordinator—Marie Bordley, a senior studying Pre-Law, English and German.
• Production Artist—Bethany Christiansen, a Phd student in English.
• Sound Technician/ASM—Justin Bauer, a senior majoring in English
• Music Director—Eddie Singleton, Director of First-Year Writing Program.

Paratexts↓

• Production:: program , script , poster.

• Scholarship: Ari, Friedlander. Review of The Tragedy of Richard II, by Lord Denney’s Players. Shakespeare Bulletin 33, no. 4 (2015): 674-677.

• Reviews: Students Put Their Own Spin on 'Richard II' - Michaela Good

• Newsletter: English Department Newsletter 2015 - Emma Royce, Partick Esguerra, Kristen Gramajo, and Marie Bordley.