Something that struck me as I was watching the Hollow
Crown version of Richard II was the juxtaposition of Richard and Bolingbroke in
both the casting and in their costumes. The actor for Richard was smaller and
looked fairly young, which combined with his lightly colored and flowy costumes
gave him a somewhat feminine look. In contrast, Bolingbroke was tall, balding,
and always had on darker colored clothing that made him look ready to go into
battle. To me he looked much more like what a king is supposed to look like,
strong and commanding instead of simply ostentatious. The effect of the
juxtaposition for me was to suggest that Bolingbroke really would make a better
king. At the same time, it also made Richard seem more pitiful towards the end,
because he's portrayed as more young and ignorant than evil and powerful.
Totally! I was expecting him to be a bit bigger? Older? Something..But I think you bring up a good point about Bolingbroke. It is interesting to see how BBC's portrayal of King Richard leads viewers to have that perception of him in the end.
ReplyDeleteIsn't just interesting how much the directing, actors, concept - everything we were talking about in class the other day ;) - really can influence a play so much?! It's kinda cool :)
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