1 Staging Geographies and the Geographies of Staging: Space and Place in Shakespeare’s Richard II: Text and Production Laura Jane Higgins Royal Holloway University of London Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2 Declaration of Authorship I, Laura Jane Higgins, hereby declare that this thesis and the work presented in it is entirely my own. Where I have consulted the work of others, this is always clearly stated. Signed: ______________________ Date: ________________________ 3 Abstract This thesis provides a new set of analytical tools with which to approach Shakespeare’s plays in production. This approach, which I am terming theatrical geographies, operates through a tripartite process which involves an analysis of the textual geographies, an examination of the geographies of staging across the play’s performance history, and a close reading of the workings of space and place in a selection of contemporary productions. By combining theoretical perspectives and conceptualizations of space and place from cultural geography with existing ideas on theatrical space, this critical framework furthers understanding of the multiple spatialities that performance generates and illuminates the role of space(s) in creating meaning. This research brings together elements of traditional Theatre History and Performance Studies, and builds on previous work which has focused on the individual areas of space as a dramaturgical element, theatre architecture, the histories of individual theatres, and scenography. By taking account of important questions left by these engagements with theatrical space and adding an interrogation of space in action in postmodern performance, theatrical geographies offers an integrated approach to the complex interactions between text, place, and performance. This enables a more nuanced analysis of the real and imagined spaces of the theatrical event as it facilitates an examination of the materialization of the fictive world and a consideration of the ways in which individual plays intervene in the identities of their places of performance. My test case is Richard II. An analysis of the textual geographies reveals the richly ambiguous places that comprise the playworld, and applying a geographical consciousness to contemporary productions demonstrates the negotiations between Shakespeare’s dramatic-geographical imagination and spatial issues of concern in the postmodern world, thus uncovering fresh nuances in the play and opening up new conceptions of its potential cultural work. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements 6 A Note on the Text 7 List of Figures 8 List of Abbreviations 10 Introduction: Space, Shakespeare, and Richard II 12 Chapter One The Grounds for Theatrical Geographies 27 (i) Cultural Geography and Re-thinking Space 28 (ii) Shakespeare’s Geographies 40 (iii) Mapping Theatres 47 (iv) Mapping Texts: Spatializing Plays 52 (v) Addressing the Geographies of Staging 57 Chapter Two Textual Geographies of Richard II 61 (i) Geographies of Power and Displacement 61 (ii) Journeys of Love and Lamentation 75 Chapter Three Geographies of Production 91 (i) Casting the Playhouse 92 (ii) Visioning the Medieval 96 (iii) Re-Visioning the Medieval 107 (iv) Re-locating Richard 129 (v) A Space In Between 142 Chapter Four Making the Familiar Nation Strange: Richard II at The Other Place 151 (i) Inside the White Box 153 (ii) Permeable Spaces: Interconnected Lives 164 Chapter Five Global Village/Urban Realpolitic: Richard II at the Old Vic 179 (i) Maintaining Traditional Places 180 (ii) Reasessing Placeless Geographies 191 (iii) Revealing Resistances and Other Spaces 194 Chapter Six Play-house/Work-house: Richard II at Shakespeare’s Globe 198 (i) Positioning the Globe 200 (ii) A Place to Play-Work 203 (iii) Inverted Rites: Unsettled Sites 210 Chapter Seven Haunted Space and Commemorative Geographies: Richard II at the Roundhouse 218 (i) Home-Making at the Courtyard/Roundhouse 222 (ii) Ghosts, Multi-Ghosting, and Memories 229 5 (iii) Spectres in the Garden 234 (iv) Placing the Memory: Remembering the Place 244 Conclusion 251 Appendix A Richard II II.1.40-66 255 Appendix B Programme for Richard II dir. Joan Littlewood 1955 256 Bibliography 257 Reviews and Press Articles 286 List of Personal Interviews 295 List of Productions 296 6 Acknowledgements My thanks are due to my supervisor Professor Elizabeth Schafer for seeing the potential of this project and for her advice and encouragement throughout; to Jack Merrall and Delories Dunn for their discussions and comments; to Maureen Beattie, Adrián Daumas, Julius D’Silva, Grant Hicks, Chuk Iwuji, Donnacadh O’Briain, Genevieve O’Reilly, William Osborne, Liza Sadovy, Jonathan Slinger, and Susan Tracy for their insights into producing and inhabiting some of the spaces I discuss; to Mara Lockowandt and Chris Horton for their help with formatting the graphics; and to my mum and dad, Monica and Joseph Higgins, for their constant love and support. 7 A Note on the Text To avoid over-long in-text citations in the case of reviews and other press articles, abbreviated forms for newspaper titles and dates are used. N.m.p. is used in bibliographic entries for secondary sources where the writer quoting the source has not given the medium of publication. For brevity and ease, productions are often referred to simply by the director’s surname. As Richard’s Queen is never named, an upper case letter will be used for the noun ‘Queen’ when it refers to this character since it serves as both proper name and title. 8 List of Figures Fig. 1 The Armada Portrait (c. 1588). George Gower. Woburn Abbey. (BBC History Website). 41 Fig. 2 The Ditchley Portrait (c. 1590). Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. National Potrait 41 Gallery. (National Portrait Gallery Website) Fig. 3 Richard II 1952. Dir.John Gielgud. Des. Loudon Santhill. Photograph Angus McBean. 104 Souvenir, V&A Theatre Collections. Fig. 4 Richard receives Northumberland at Conway Castle. Histoire du Roy d’Angleterre. 106 British Library Harley 1319, fol. 37v. Fig. 5 Sketch by Harry Green for Richard II 1955. Dir. Joan Littlewood. Des. John Bury. 108 Theatre Royal Stratford East Archive (and British Library Theatre Archive Project in association with De Montfort University) Fig. 6 Richard II 1955. Dir. Joan Littlewood. Des. John Bury. Theatre Royal Stratford East 109 Archive. Fig. 7 Richard II 1973. Dir. John Barton. Des. Timothy O’Brien and Tazeena Firth. Photograph 114 Donald Cooper. Shakespeare Centre Library (and Designing Shakespeare). Fig. 8 Richard II 1974. Dir. John Barton. Des. Timothy O’Brien and Tazeena Firth. Photograph 116 Tom Holte. Shakespeare Centre Library (and Designing Shakespeare). Fig. 9 Richard II 1973. Dir. John Barton. Des. Timothy O’Brien and Tazeena Firth. 119 Shakespeare Centre Library. Fig. 10 Richard II 1985. Dir. John David. Des. Clive Lavagna. Bristol Theatre Collections. 121 Fig. 11 Richard II 1988. Dir. Clifford Williams. Des. Carl Toms. Production programme. V&A 124 Theatre Collections. Fig. 12 Richard II 1988. Dir. Clifford Williams. Des. Carl Toms. Production programme. V&A 125 Theatre Collections. Fig. 13 Richard II 1990. Dir. Ron Daniels. Des. Anthony Macdonald. Shakespeare Centre 134 Library. Fig. 14 Richard II 1990. Dir. Ron Daniels. Des. Anthony Macdonald. Shakespeare Centre 134 Library. Fig. 15 Richard II 1995. Dir. Deborah Warner. Des. Hildegard Bechtler. National Theatre 142 Archive. Fig. 16 Richard II 1995. Dir. Deborah Warner. Des. Hildegard Bechtler. Photograph Donald 143 Cooper. Designing Shakespeare. Fig. 17 Richard II 2000. Dir. Steven Pimlott. Des. David Fielding. Shakespeare Centre 154 Libarary. Fig. 18 Richard II 2000. Dir. Steven Pimlott. Des. David Fielding. Photograph Donald Cooper. 168 Designing Shakespeare. Fig. 19 Richard II 2005. Dir. Trevor Nunn. Des. Hildegard Bechtler. Photograph Alastair Muir, 179 reproduced in Charles Spencer. Rev. of Richard II, dir. Trevor Nunn. Telegraph 5 October 2005. Web. Fig. 20 Richard II 2003. Dir. Tim Carroll. Photograph John Tramper. Postcard (Globe Shop, 198 discontinued). Personal collection. 9 Fig. 21 The Roundhouse before the construction of the Courtyard. Photograph Ellie Kurttz, 224 reproduced in The Histories. Comp. and ed. Kevin Wright. 27. Fig. 22 Aerial rehearsals for The Histories, Courtyard Theatre Stratford-upon-Avon 2007. 226 Photographer Ellie Kurttz, reproduced in The Histories. Comp. and ed. Kevin Wright. 36. Fig. 23 The development of Tom Piper’s design for The Histories, dir Boyd 2006-2007. 226 Photographer Ellie Kurttz, reproduced in The Histories. Comp. and ed. Kevin Wright. 42. Fig. 24 The Histories publicity Image. Schedule and publicity brochure for the Roundhouse 246 season. Personal collection. 10 List of Abbreviations AP Associated Press BH Boughton Herald BP Birmingham Post DE Daily Express DM Daily Mail DT Daily Telegraph DV Daily Variety E Era ED Evening Dispatch EJ Evesham Journal EN Evening News ES Evening Standard ESS Elizabethan Stage Society Ex Examiner Exp Express FT Financial Times G Guardian H Herald HR Hollywood Reporter HRev Hudson Review I Independent IHT International Herald Tribune ILN Illustrated London News IS Independent on Sunday JC Jewish Chronicle L Lady M Metro MG Manchester Guardian MGaz Morning Gazette MGW Manchester Guardian Weekly MP Morning Post MS Morning Star MSun Mail on Sunday 11 NA Newcastle Advertiser NC New Chronicle NOW News of the World NP Nottingham Post NSN New Statesman and Nation NYT New York Times O Observer OP Original Practices PI Philadelphia Inquirer PIntv Personal interview PP Production programme RSC Royal Shakespeare Company RST Royal Shakespeare Theatre S Sketch SMT Stratford Memorial Theatre Sp Spectator St Star ST Sunday Times STC Sunday Times, Culture STel Sunday Telegraph Stg Stage Tat Tatler TB Tatler and Bystander T Times TN Theatre News TO Time Out TOP The Other Place TRB Theatre Royal Bristol V&ATC Victoria and Albert Museum Theatre Collections WE Wolverhampton Express WMCS Western Mail Cardiff Supplement WO What’s On 12 Introduction: Space, Shakespeare, and Richard II This is a particularly exciting juncture at which to take a new approach to the examination of space in and for theatre.