Richard III

Performance

David Garrick (1717–1779), as Richard III (from Shakespeare's 'Richard III'), Nathaniel Dance-Holland (1771)Poster, c. 1884, advertising an American production of the play, showing many key scenesAfrican-American James Hewlett as Richard III in a c. 1821 production. Below him is quoted the line "Off with his head; so much for Buckingham", a line not from the original play but from adaptations.[16]

The earliest certain performance occurred on 16 or 17 November 1633, when Charles I and Queen Henrietta Maria watched it on the Queen's birthday.[17]: p.81–82 

Cast of a 2018 production of Richard III at the Abbey Theatre

Colley Cibber produced the most successful of the Restoration adaptations of Shakespeare with his version of Richard III, at Drury Lane starting in 1700. Cibber himself played the role till 1739, and his version was on stage for the next century and a half. It contained the lines "Off with his head; so much for Buckingham" – possibly the most famous Shakespearean line that Shakespeare did not write – and "Richard's himself again!". The original Shakespearean version returned in a production at Sadler's Wells Theatre in 1845.[18]: p.102 & 414 

In 2011 film actor Kevin Spacey starred in an Old Vic production which subsequently toured the United States, directed by stage and film director Sam Mendes. Spacey had played the role of Richard's henchman, the Duke of Buckingham, in the Pacino film.


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