Cate Blanchett as: King Richard II and Lady Anne

Directed by: Benedict Andrews
Adapted by: Tom Wright and Benedict Andrews (Play by William Shakespeare)
Play run: 6 January – 14 February 2009
Venue: The Wharf at Sydney Theatre Company
* The play toured in Perth, South Australia in 2009.

 

 

 

Photos

As the culmination of their three years together, Sydney Theatre Company’s renowned resident ensemble, the STC Actors Company, are joined by Cate Blanchett and Kobert Menzies to present an audacious epic or language and history – The War of the Roses.

The War of the Roses spans eight of Shakespeare’s History plays, from the elegance and melancholy of Richard II through to the barbarity and catastrophe of Richard III, via some of Shakespeare’s most startling and inspired creations. The bittersweet underworld of Falstaff’s nights, the boy-failure who becomes a war hero in Henry V, the nightmare world of child-king in Henry VI, the incisive language of Queen Margaret, all refracted by a creative team acclaimed for their vivid re-imaginings.

Condensed to four distinct acts, performed in two parts, this landmark production examines what it means to rule, to enact war, to take power and to lose power. It is the story of the failure of a civilisation and its replacement with a new world order.

Cast:

Part One, Act I
Cate Blanchett as King Richard II Cate Blanchett
Robert Menzies as Henry Bolingbroke, later King Henry IV
John Gaden as John of Gaunt, uncle of King Richard II; father of Bolingbroke
Steve Le Marquand as Thomas Mowbray, Duke of Norfolk
Pamela Rabe as Duchess of Gloucester, sister-in-law to Gaunt
Peter Carroll as Earl of Northumberland
Hayley McElhinney as Queen Isabella, wife of King Richard II
John Gaden as Edmund, Duke of York, brother of Gaunt
Marta Dusseldorp as An Attendant
Amber McMahon as An Attendant
Brandon Burke as Exton
Peter Carroll as A Gardener
Part One, Act II
Robert Menzies as King Henry IV
John Gaden as Prince Henry, later Henry V Ewen Leslie Falstaff
Peter Carroll as Earl of Northumberland
Luke Mullins as Henry Percy, known as Hotspur
Eden Falk as Son of Northumberland Prince Henry’s Brother
Brandon Burke as A Killer
Steve Le Marquand as A Killer
Luke Mullins as Katherine of France, later Henry V’s Queen

Part Two, Act I and Act II
More information here.

Creatives:

Costume design by Alice Babidge
Set design by Robert Cousins
Lighting design by Nick Schlieper
Sound design by Max Lyandvert

Related Images

View more images at the gallery.

Programme; Still (as Lady Anne)Quotes from Cate Blanchett

• On the rehearsals: “They’re really great. It’s a challenge because if you did Shakespeare’s War of the Roses in its entirety, it’d be 40, 50 hours, and we’ve truncated it down to eight.” (Sydney Theatre Company, 2009)
• On playing Richard II: “It was an extraordinary opportunity. I don’t have a theory about “incarnation” in the theater, or in acting in general. You have to be careful not to compose. You have to find within yourself the resources that make everything appear obvious to the audience. In the theater, being a Shakespearean king is a privilege. But there are other examples besides me. I know that women have notably played King Lear. Let’s face it, his genius as a writer carries us along!” (Le Figaro, March 2012)

Quotes from Others

• Benedict Andrews:
  — On the play: “It’s a sparse beauty. That’s how theatre can get you very, very close to an actor. On a bare stage a reality is made… As Richard II, Blanchett is the king who has one of the greatest moments in Western theatre, the birth of an interiority in Western theatre. He demands a mirror on stage and looks in it and regards his face and the act is important. This is a very famous face, so there is a resonance between it. It’s not why you do it but, of course, there’s a resonance.”
• Tom Wright:
  — “The casting of Cate Blanchett and Pamela Rabe as the two Richards isn’t making a political point about gender. It’s just finding the best actor for the best role.”

Selected Reviews

Excerpts from selected reviews.

• TheatreNotes (Sydney) — “ I didn’t see a single weak actor, and the two guest actors – Cate Blanchett and Robert Menzies – sit brilliantly within the cast. And this show features individual performances that are simply remarkable, portrayals that deserve to be lauded and remembered years hence as moments when greatness graced our stage.
  Images that remain with me: Cate Blanchett as Richard II, luminous and sly, the image of arrogant wit and grace, heartless and heartbreaking, walking over broken glass to the crown; Robert Menzies as Bolingbroke, Henry IV, driven by anger, grief, regret and bitterness, surrounded by his likenesses in a macabre dance that stirred real horror; Ewen Leslie as Henry V, a revelatory performance, charismatically sexual, violent, his body drenched with honey and oil and blood in a diabolical anointing of royalty; John Gaden, brilliant and desolately moving as John of Gaunt and Edmund Duke of York, wickedly knowing and irrepressibly lustful as Falstaff; Marta Dusseldorf, terrifying in her hatred and ambition as Margaret of Anjou, teaching Queen Elizabeth (Amber McMahon) how to curse; Eden Falk, fumblingly innocent and somehow frightening as the child king Henry VI; Pamela Rabe, wickedly juvenile, blackly witty, clumsy, terrifyingly amoral and charismatic as Richard III. But none of these individual moments would be possible without the context around them.”
• Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney) — “The War Of The Roses is essentially a star-vehicle for Blanchett and for Robert Menzies as Henry Bolingbroke, later King Henry IV. It is a rare pleasure to see them together on stage. Although the unsentimental, challenging production salutes the soon-to-be-disbanded STC Actors Company, it emerges less as an ensemble piece than as a showcase for two of its best-known members, John Gaden, who is especially memorable as a decadently indulgent Falstaff, and Pamela Rabe, who crowns the play as the loveless, wickedly gleeful and juvenile Richard III. She elicits many a laugh for her monstrous swagger and shamelessly diabolical desires, and relishes a little overkill.
  But back to Blanchett. Her melodious voice, adaptability, elegance and ease make for a great performance, not only as the spiteful, manically sly and eloquent Richard II but as the young Prince Edwards’s widow, Lady Anne, who falls prey to Richard III’s dubious charms and hangs herself from a swing. Her stage presence is such that audiences are sure to miss her in the middle two acts.”
• Sydney Morning Herald (Perth) — “Blanchett is brilliant in the role of Richard. Her command of the language and her ability to convey the doubts and follies of the flawed king are a pleasure to be watch. Her star power is used knowingly as she sends flirtatious looks to the audience appealing to us to support her as she argues for the divine right of kings.
  But this is not a one-star show, and in the second act, it is others who shine. In this act the set is bare but for electric guitarist Stefan Gregory playing a feedback-laden solo that underscores the guilt that King Henry IV (Robert Menzies) suffers at his role in King Richard’s murder.
  …Blanchett makes a welcome return to the stage here as Lady Anne, the widow of the Prince of Wales and Richard’s sorrowful wife. The scenes between Rabe and Blanchett are mesmerising as two powerhouses of the Australian stage battle it out. Having Blanchett’s Richard II and Rabe’s Richard III bookend the play is the final act of cleverness in a very clever production.
  Eight hours of theatre is a challenge for most audiences, but the Sydney Theatre Company reward the audience with a production that is challenging, thought-provoking and carefully thought out from the casting to the set and lighting design to the music. It is well worth the effort.”

Trivia & Facts

• The play toured Perth, South Australia from 27 February to 12 March 2009 as part of Perth International Arts Festival.
• The play’s performance is in two parts with each part at 3 hours and 45 minutes including interval.
• Cate Blanchett and Benedict also worked together in Gross und Klein (Big and Small) (2011-2012) and The Maids (2013-2014).
• The play won Best Mainstage Production, Best Direction, Best Actor, Best Set Design, and Best Lighting Design at 2009 Sydney Theatre Awards.
• Cate Blanchett was nominated for Best Female Actor in a Play at 2009 Helpmann Awards.

Opening night after-party in Sydney, 14 January 2009; Opening night in Perth, 28 February 2009