Resurrecting Richard the Third at La Boite

Pacharo Mzembe: from the boxing ring back to Shakespeare.

The legend behind the ultimate villain will be excavated and resurrected in The Tragedy of King Richard III, an 80-minute adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic by Marcel Dorney and Daniel Evans at the La Boite Roundhouse Theatre 21 May to 11 June, 2016.

Following his critical success with 2015 Brisbane Festival’s The Seagull, The Tragedy of King Richard III is co-written by Evans (winner – Queensland Premier’s Drama Award 2014/2015) and Marcel Dorney (winner Queensland Premier’s Drama Award 2010/2011). It is a gritty autopsy on the perception of Richard III. It is also directed by Daniel Evans.

The cast features Naomi Price (Channel 9’s The Voice Australia; QTC’s Ladies in Black; Little Red Company’s Rumour Has It) and Artistic Director of La Boite Todd MacDonald (Director – Medea, Prize Fighter), will perform on the La Boite stage for the first time.

The production also features Helen Howard (La Boite’s The Glass Menagerie, Hamlet), Pacharo Mzembe (La Boite’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Prize Fighter) and Amy Ingram (QTC’s I Want to Know What Love Is).

In 2012, Richard’s resting place was finally uncovered: an unmarked, shallow grave beneath a supermarket car park. This year, he gets the royal treatment.

“The show sits between the divide of what Shakespeare wrote, and who Richard actually was.” said Evans. “It's a ruthless, liquefied world."

Armed with some of Queensland’s top theatre makers, the production promises to be a fast and furious blood-soaked battle royale, where nobody’s getting out clean - or alive.

"The underlying verb is excavation. It's a messy show - it's sticky, it's slippery” said Evans.

21 May – 11 June at the La Boite at the Roundhouse Theatre, 6 Musk Ave, Kelvin Grove QLD 4059. Duration: 80 mins. Tickets: $30-$59 + booking fee. Bookings: www.laboite.com.au or telephone (07) 3007 8600 9 am-5 pm Mon-Fri.

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