Richard III

Arkangel has combined music; vivid, natural sound; and inspired acting to produce as timely and satisfying a dramatic experience as anything on audio. The music, composed by Dominique LeGendre, suggests the diabolical bent of Richard the Third's quest for power. A haunting bassoon accompanies him as he manipulates people and language for the throne. Alternately sly, subtle, brutal, or ingratiating, he wins Lady Anne, deceives Buckingham, and kills Edward's children to its plaintive measures. Perhaps because of the immediacy of the audio format, Troughton's portrayal of Richard feels more intimate with the audience than most stage productions, and in today's political "theater" it is well to be reminded how political speech has more to do with ambition than honest action. This Richard III is as contemporary as ever. P.E.F. (c) AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine