Translated by Ede Szigligeti

Director: Sándor Zsótér

The creators about the play:
Panel comes to mind about the play – Richard III – the dictator. Lord of life and death. A despot. An absolute tyrant. An oppressor. Tyrant. And he is neither: why can he be a tyrant, an oppressor, a despot, the lord of life and death, a dictator? How can he become one? Because he is like such and such. He feels compelled, he wants to get to the top. But it wouldn’t be enough if he chooses so and wants this. He needs the others to assist.

They work hard for him. They aren't as imposing people as Richard III, they are not as ambitious, but they do their best in their field. They work hard for him and he’ll represent their interests. They hope to get something in return. Whether it’s financial advantage or some power position. They can be used for anything because they very much have it in them to engage in scoundrelism and they are not even necessarily aware of it. Their minds light up only when they lose their minds, and their lives. Those (lined up) against Richard believe they are morally entitled to be upset, but when they were in a privileged position, they trampled, killed or slain one another in just the same way. Their reasons being: the only way they can protect their interests is by killing the other one because the other has every interest to kill them. It is a very obvious, a common reasoning. We can see the bare interests. It becomes a public affair by the responsibility being about something more than just an apartment: it’s about a country with people living in it.

Those who are afraid and those who are moved by fear. They are sly. They are sneaky. They have a lot of bad experience, which is not really a reason for not acting. We can identify with this. We think that this cannot happen to us. Do not think that way. We are witness to forms of human behavior from which we can draw some lessons, even if, incorrectly so, we do not follow them. The story of Richard III is the last stage of the War of the Roses. The victory of the House of York promises an era of peace. King Edward IV’s younger brother Richard is bored. In the war, he stood out with his courage, valor, but in peacetime he cannot find his place to apply his skills with his distorted appearance (result of a birth defect). He decides to go back to war, if not openly, this time with this family. He seeks to take the throne. He’ll get rid of everyone who gets in his way. He knows people quite well, he knows the human nature and takes fancy in playing with them. However, when he gains power, he loses his playfulness. He begins to fear for his power. Nobody could swallow the murders he ordered. Neither could he. He has one true enemy – opponent – his own conscience. It makes him weak. This is why the new claimant to the throne can defeat him. No matter how tempting the analogy of identifying Richard with the dictators of the recent past or the present, there is one decisive difference: he is conscious of the moral world order. He consciously chooses the bad. He doesn’t think of it or calls (i.e. lies about it as) good.

Cast:

King Edward IV: Zoltán Friedenthal
Edward, Prince of Wales, Edward IV's eldest son: Márton Pallag
Richard, Duke of York, Edward IV's younger son: Zsigmond Bödők
George, Duke of Clarence, Edward IV's brother: Márton Pallag
Richard, Duke of Gloucester, brother to Edward IV; later King Richard III: Zoltán Balázs
Duke of Buckingham: József Kádas
Earl Rivers, Elizabeth's brother: Zsigmond Bödők
Marquis of Dorset, Elizabeth's son, Lord Stanley: Márton Pallag
Hastings lord: Balázs Fila
Lord Stanley, Earl of Derby, Richmond's stepfather: Márton Pallag
Sir Richard Ratcliffe: Balázs Fila
Sir William Catesby: Sándor Márkus
Sir Robert Brackenbury, Lieutenant of the Tower: Balázs Fila
Sheriff of Wiltshire: Zoltán Friedenthal
Queen Elizabeth, Queen to King Edward IV: Kata Huszárik
Queen Margaret, widow of King Henry VI: Sándor Márkus
Duchess of York, Edward, Richard and George's mother: Erika Tankó
Lady Anne Neville, widow of Edward of Westminster; later Queen to King Richard III: Ágota Szilágyi
Richard's page: Pál Péter Szűcs
Murderer 1: Sándor Márkus
Murderer 2: Zoltán Friedenthal

Set design: Mária Ambrus
Costume design: Mária Benedek
Dramaturg: Júlia Ungár
Music: Pál Péter Szűcs
Production manager: Katalin Balázs

Opening night: 18 May 2016, Maladype Base

Tour:
THEATRE WORLD International Theatre Festival, Brno, Czech Republic - 2018
Shakespeare Festival, Castle Theatre, Gyula - 2017
Finálé Festival, National Theatre, Szeged - 2017