Review: Striving to Build Jerusalem in Smith Street Stage’s "Richard II"

Richard II

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Katie Willmorth

Asst. Directed by Alexandra Haddad

Presented by Smith Street Stage at The Mark O’Donnell Theater at the Entertainment Community Fund Arts Center

160 Schermerhorn Street, Brooklyn, NYC

September 11-28, 2024

Photo by StudioVic - Juan Carlos Quimper

Shakespeare’s history plays might be produced less often than his tragedies and comedies, but as Smith Street Stage’s production of Richard II demonstrates, their depiction of the moral ambiguities surrounding political power and those who wield it speak remarkably well to a contemporary American audience, particularly one in the throes of a presidential election season. As the production so aptly shows, moral rectitude does not reside clearly with one or side or the other, even when one of those sides is supposed to possess divine right, but rather somewhere in the murky middle. To paraphrase the final hymn, sung in gorgeous harmonies by the entire cast, building Jerusalem (what in an American context we might call a more perfect union) is never truly complete but always a work in progress.

Under the direction of Katie Willmorth, the production features a minimalist set and costumes that lightly gesture towards Shakespeare’s own time through accessories like ruffs and gloves. In addition to the throne that is the object of the play’s central conflicts, the set consists of a number of crenellated blocks that are reconfigured as needed to indicate scene changes. Taken as a whole, this mobile castle almost looks like a child’s play area, implying that monarchizing is little more than playing pretend; when one person’s turn as king is done, another can easily take his place.

Photo by StudioVic - Juan Carlos Quimper

The cast of this production is compact and extraordinarily versatile, from its titular lead and his opponent Bolingbroke to minor characters who are quite cleverly double cast. Theo McKenna is an excellent Richard, an effete ruler whose callousness makes him incredibly dislikeable even while he also commands a great deal of sympathy and even admiration for abdicating on his own terms in a highly theatrical scene. Will Sarratt’s Bolingbroke plays to the audience from his first appearance on stage, making it quite clear that he has loftier ambitions than his father’s dukedom. There is a great deal of double casting among minor characters, including some from opposite sides of the Richard and Bolingbroke conflict. For example, Bushy and Harry Percy are both played by Diego Millan and Green and Ross by Ara Celia Butler, demonstrating the murkiness of a conflict in which neither Richard nor Bolingbroke has unequivocal right on his side. Diego Millan shines in his roles, adopting a believable Scottish dialect for Bushy and showcasing a bit of the fiery Percy who will feature much more prominently in Henry IV. Similarly showing a great deal of range and versatility, Lauren Pennline is a remarkable Mowbray as well as a winning Duchess of York in the latter part of the play, adopting a quintessential Brooklyn accent that is pitch perfect for her role in pleading on behalf of her son to the new king Henry.

The cross-gendered casting of Mowbray is indicative of another strength of the play in giving more prominence to women. Isis Rosina Bruno plays both the Duchess and Gloucester and the prominent role of Northumberland, whose support is crucial to the elevation of Bolingbroke to the throne. Noelle Franco as Queen Isabel assumes a prominence in the play beyond her scripted lines, acting in silent ways that make her a more important character to the play’s central conflicts. For example, when Richard wastes no time following the death of his uncle in seizing his goods to fund his Irish wars, the Queen shows her disgust with his callousness by refusing to leave on his arm, sweeping off stage ahead of him.

Photo by StudioVic - Juan Carlos Quimper

Kristin KP Sgarro’s musical accompaniment not only serves as an enhancement to the production but even more, through the use of recurring leitmotifs, aids the audience in judging the action they are about to witness. Sgarro begins singing the rendition of “Jerusalem” that concludes the play and is joined by the rest of the cast, including the now-dead Richard. A poem by William Blake, “Jerusalem” became extraordinarily popular in Britain when set to music during World War I and remains almost an alternate national anthem. While Blake’s reference to the “dark Satanic Mills” of the Industrial Revolution post-date both the play’s history and that of its author by several centuries, it is an extraordinarily fitting conclusion to the play. In the final verse, from which it derives its title, the song reminds that the promised land must be fought for continually. The crown has passed, but the ultimate goal has yet to be achieved.

-Stephanie Pietros