INTERVIEW: ‘Wars of the Roses’ offers full portrait of Richard III
The new adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part III and Richard III, dubbed Wars of the Roses, is chockfull of insight and additional backstory, offering audience members a unique perspective on one of the Bard’s most iconic villains. The new theatrical effort comes to New York City thanks to director Austin Pendleton, who also stars as King Henry VI, and Matt de Rogatis, who plays Richard III.
Performances run through Aug. 19 at the 124 Bank St. Theatre in New York City.
“I guess it went back to about three years ago when I did a show in Midtown, and the director Austin Pendleton was in the audience,” de Rogatis said in a recent phone interview. “Afterward we exchanged pleasantries and contact information, and kept in touch over the months that followed after that. The following summer I played Hamlet, and Austin helped coach me. And as we got friendlier and closer, it seemed like the logical next thing to do was to do a show together with him as director and myself as the actor.”
That first collaboration was supposed to be 2016’s The Collector at 59E59 Theaters, but Pendleton was busy with other directing projects. He is actually one of the most in-demand theater interpreters in New York City, regularly helming productions off-Broadway.
“It just didn’t work out with scheduling, so then really after that, we were just always trying to find a project that could work for us,” de Rogatis remembers. “And last summer, I believe it was Aug. 3, I said to him, ‘What about Richard III?’ … So about a month later, we met, and he had said that his idea was he had always wanted to direct Richard III and combine the text of King Henry VI, Part III with Richard III to show the character arc of Richard.”
Traditionally, Shakespeare’s Richard III opens up with the character already evil and trying to usurp the throne. By adding in the text of Henry VI, Part III, audiences have a chance to see the future king’s vulnerability and innocence.
“By combining the text, we get to see more of a journey for Richard, so really after that, we had gone back and forth with pitching some ideas for theaters to do it in,” de Rogatis said. “[Pendleton] had suggested doing it at the 124 Bank St. Theatre, which is connected to HB Studio, where he teaches. He knows the theater well, so I inquired with the people there. We booked dates, and really in December of 2017, we started working on the script, combining the texts and just making cuts from there. Now we’re deep into the rehearsal period. It really just came from me just suggesting the show, and I just happened to pick one that really jived with him. And it was something that he had always wanted to do, so it worked out. I suggested the right show.”
Combining the texts has been a welcome challenge. Right now, as it stands, the intermission comes 20 pages into Richard III, so audience members will see most of Henry VI, Part III and a morsel of Richard III before taking a break, and then the thrilling and quite dramatic conclusion to Richard III is presented.
“I would say our script is about 89 pages,” he said “I think roughly 30 of that is King Henry VI, and the other 60 or so would be Richard III. So on balance it’s not half and half. It’s more ⅔ Richard III, ⅓ King Henry VI, so the intermission would lie somewhere in there around page 45 or so.”
The original idea was for de Rogatis to play Richard III and for Pendleton to direct; however, as the project moved forward, Pendleton joined the cast as Henry VI. Now mentor and mentee are together on stage, reinterpreting the Bard’s words together.
“So not only is Austin directing it, but he’s also playing King Henry VI,” the actor said. “We also have a wonderful assistant director named Peter Bloch, who I definitely want to mention, who has done really great things for the show. He’s really stepped up almost as a co-director in this. As far as the character goes for Richard, without giving too much away, I’m not really going for the traditional, joking villain, as he tends to be played. Throughout a lot of my research with Richard III and books that I’ve read, hearing something about him being a very ‘haunted man,’ and that kind of that stuck with me when I saw that quote. I have really tried to use that in my character, and like I said, he won’t necessarily be the joking, fun, this-is-so-enjoyable-killing-people [man]. It won’t necessarily be that. It’ll be more a haunted, tortured soul who feels like the only way he can find any value in his life is to become a king, and unfortunately he realizes he has to do terrible things to get there.”
De Rogatis said it is important for the play to show remorse and humanity toward Richard III because that is the unique take Wars of the Roses can offer audiences. Thus, he set out on a scavenger hunt to find evidence in Shakespeare’s text of the king’s pain, feelings of worthlessness and contrition.
“Then, of course, there’s the whole physical aspect, playing with a withered arm, a hunch, which has not been so enjoyable doing that because your back starts to hurt every 20 minutes or so,” he said. “You think of how you want to play it. Then you get into rehearsals, and you’re working opposite other people. And you’re hearing the director’s ideas. Then it certainly changes things, but now it’s really getting on track. And the skeleton has been made for the character, and now it’s just about shading it in.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Wars of the Roses: Henry VI & Richard III will be presented through Aug. 19 at the 124 Bank St. Theatre in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.
