Bard's back in the park Band of Brothers Shakespeare Company will stage 'Richard III' in Stackhouse

Jul. 24—For its 30th season, a local theater company will present a tale of a murderous family feud for power.

William Shakespeare's "Richard III" will be staged by Band of Brothers Shakespeare Company at 7 p.m. Thursday, Friday and July 31 and Aug. 4-7 in the main pavilion at Stackhouse Park in Westmont.

Laura Gordon, the show's director, said the troupe is eager to return to the stage after COVID-19 canceled last year's performance.

"It's thrilling and great to be back in the park," she said.

"The actors are their own talent and their own scheme of things in their brains with memorization and performance, and that part of the spirit has been sleeping for quite some time.

"As each rehearsal goes on, I'm seeing things click a little bit quicker in their eyes in what they're doing, the connection between the word and the body."

The company performed "Richard III" in 1997, and organizers have wanted to revisit the historical play for some time.

'Wonderful play'

"At the time, 'Richard III' was lesser-known, and we had 43 actors," Gordon said.

"This year, we've cut it to under 20.

"It's a wonderful play and it never loses its potency or message. It's a deception versus the appearance of things, and it's quite a choice to make."

Gordon said when the company first performed "Richard III," it did the play in its entirety, which is three-and-a-half hours long.

"It's the longest script in Shakespeare, so for this performance, I streamlined the script," she said.

"I didn't change anything, and it's running about an hour and a half. It's getting to the essentials without damaging the goods."

The story of "Richard III" begins after a long civil war between the royal families of York and Lancaster.

Period of peace

England enjoys a period of peace under King Edward IV and the victorious Yorks.

But Edward's younger brother, Richard, resents Edward's power and the happiness of those around him.

Malicious, power-hungry and bitter about a physical deformity, Richard begins to aspire secretly to the throne and decides to kill anyone he has to in order to become king.

Using his intelligence and his skills of deception and political manipulation, Richard begins his campaign for the throne.

"Essentially, it's a murder by numbers with Richard taking everybody out because he was the last in line to be king," Gordon said.

"What I like is this is history, and you forget that these were real people and it's based on a true story."

Seasoned actors

She said the play features a dynamic cast of seasoned actors, as well as newcomers.

"Everyone is working really hard, and I think they're hungry for an audience because that's what fuels actors," Gordon said.

"They are a brave and hardworking cast."

Robb Miller, who is in his 10th season with the troupe, is portraying Richard III.

"I researched the history of Richard III and stories about him, trying to figure out the character," he said.

"A lot of times, when you're the protagonist of the show, you have a story arch where you have a redeeming quality, but with this show, Richard is so evil and wants his way that there are not a lot of redeeming qualities about him.

'From his perspective'

"I have to look at it from his perspective — that he has been put down all of his life and he feels he deserves this by any means necessary."

Miller said that with the line of succession to the throne, Richard basically stood no chance of being king.

"In that time, if you had any deformity or disfigurement, you were considered to be less of a person in society, so to be born into royalty, but also be looked down upon by everyone, had to put a different stigma on it," Miller said.

"Rather than pity himself for not ever being able to be king or have the power the others in his family had, he decides to plot and ploy through marriage, royalty and murder to get his way to be king."

He added that playing Richard III is an exciting opportunity.

"A lot of what he does, I would never imagine myself being able to do, but having to be that character and pretend you're somebody else on that stage who acts like this is something normal is very interesting and fun," Miller said.

Right-hand man

Veteran Band of Brothers performer Wes Layton will play the part of Buckingham, the right-hand man to the would-be king.

"He's very intelligent and helps Richard to plot his schemes to ascend to the throne," he said.

"The two are very good at it, and it's really impressive the way they play things against each other and make up these scenarios to catch people and then kill whoever gets in the way."

Layton said playing Buckingham has been a lot of fun.

"I don't often play villain characters, so it's nice to step into that type of role and the challenges that it brings," Layton said.

Children in production

In addition, two of Layton's daughters are in the production. Harper Layton will play Prince Edward, and Rowan Layton portrays Clarence's son.

"It has been pretty great to be able to spend the summer together," Layton said.

"It's kind of like their Shakespeare summer camp. We have been impressed, and the kids were the first ones with the scripts out of their hands."

Doug Meagher, who has been with the company since 1996, is portraying Richard's trusting brother Clarence.

"Clarence has a wonderful speech about a dream that he has that's filled with solid imagery, and that's what drew me to the character," he said.

"Clarence fought alongside Richard in many a battle, but he isn't power-hungry like his brother. He's an interesting character to play."

Meagher said the language of Shakespeare is appealing to him.

"These are stories that stand the test of time," he said.

"Shakespeare uses 20 words where three would do, but it's those words that he uses and those descriptions of people, places and events that are absolutely beautiful. The challenge of an actor is to bring that language to a modern audience and make it understandable."

Other cast members

Rounding out the cast of "Richard III" are Don Evanisko as King Edward IV; Hailey Giuffre as Queen Elizabeth; Brianne France-Layton as Anne; Lisa Paolillo as Duchess of York; Natalie Kurchak as Margaret; Anna Davis as Prince York; Iris Davis as Young Elizabeth; Kate Davis as Catesby; Kyle Kurchak as Brackenbury; Dominic Dalton as Richmond; Ethan Leydig as Hastings; and Ben Berkebile as Stanley.

Costuming for the play has a turn-of-the-century blend of punk and steampunk, the director said.

"It's not a traditional costuming, and we're breaking free a little bit," Gordon said.

"I want the costuming to work with the character and the play, not just be the statement. A good performance should hold its own no matter what you do to it, and it's fun to take the Shakespearean stories and put them in any setting."

She said the goal of Band of Brothers Shakespeare Company is not only to perform, but to educate actors and audiences.

"We want them to have a deeper love, appreciation and hunger for more," Gordon said.

"I want this to be something that's contagious, and for people to enjoy and understand."

A free shuttle service provided by Flood City Youth Academy will be available to transport guests from Westmont Hilltop Elementary School, 827 Diamond Blvd., to and from the play site.

St. Nicholas Serbian Orthodox Church will serve Serbian cuisine for purchase.

Attendees are encouraged to bring lawn chairs or blankets for seating.

A blanket area for the audience will be reserved.

"There is no fourth wall in the Band of Brothers Shakespeare Company, and that's very important," Gordon said.

"The actors come in through the audiences and talk to them, and for many years, we've had audiences play parts."

Tickets, which are $15 for adults and $10 for students, seniors and military, are available at the gate and in advance online at www.bandofbrothersshakespeare.org.