Classical Theatre of Harlem’s Seize the King offers a unique update on the Bard’s Richard III (photo © Richard Termine)

SEIZE THE KING
Marcus Garvey Park, Richard Rodgers Amphitheater
Through July 29, free (no RSVP necessary), 8:30
www.cthnyc.org

There’s a lot you won’t find in Seize the King, Will Power’s modern-day reimagination of Shakespeare’s Richard III, being staged by the Classical Theatre of Harlem at the Richard Rodgers Amphitheater in Marcus Garvey Park through July 29. There’s no mention of a discontented winter, proving to be a villain, or horses to trade for a kingdom. Writer Power and director Carl Cofield have streamlined the timeless story about the hunger for power to ninety minutes, performed by five actors portraying more than a dozen and a half roles; don’t wait around for Clarence, the Duchess of York, Queen Margaret, Sir William Catesby, Sir James Tyrrell, Henry Tudor, or the Archbishop of Canterbury to take the stage. But what you will find in the triumphant production is an exciting updating of a tale that’s all too familiar and one that keeps repeating itself. “When he comes back, will thou be ready?” the audience is asked at the end. “Can you keep the devil down in the hole?”

Seize the King begins with the death of the beloved King Edward IV, leaving his young son, Edward V (Alisha Espinosa), as heir to the throne. Edward’s brother, Richard (Ro Boddie), the Duke of Gloucester, was named to be the twelve-year-old Edward’s Lord Protector, but Lord Hastings (RJ Foster) doesn’t trust him, with good reason, as Richard believes that he should be the next king. Hastings tells him, “Edward intended for you to be Lord Protector / Still, his true intention is to insure that his son in two years’ time / Be crowned the reigning king of all, none other but him.” Richard answers curtly, “Of course.” Hastings emphasizes, “Only him.” Richard responds, “Yes, only him,” but he is already plotting his nephew’s demise.

Sides are drawn, with Lord Hastings defending Edward V and his mother, Queen Woodville (Andrea Patterson), while Richard eventually convinces an unsure Lord Buckingham (Carson Elrod) to join him. Richard attempts to woo Lady Anne Neville (Espinosa), the widow of Edward, Prince of Wales, to his cause, addressing her while she is taking a bath. “Sweet you are, love I my syrup thick / Allow me to pour this sweet over your / Stack Pancakes, but much more than pleasures,” he says. The wealthy Lady Anne is on to him immediately but is ready to make a deal. “What need I for you? / Come now, let’s talk bidness. / What offer you?” she declares. “You thought your sweet words would be enough? / Please, I got big jocks jockin’ all the time for these vast lands.”

As all roads lead to Bosworth Field, Power sprinkles in references to Fat Albert, Stairmaster, eating sushi with a fork, birth control, and Mother Teresa as well as to other Shakespeare plays and contemporary politics. “England first,” Buckingham proclaims to the people as if he’s speaking to a MAGA crowd. He crows, “Since good Edward Four ascended to / Heavenly orbs. Now what surrounds us? / Foreign heathens that take ours / Immigrants invade while we sit jobless / They up up up the ladder, up the stairs / While we, at dreadful base, now we step — oh / Now the stairs rickety, they are unusable / Cracked is the wood, trapped are we at base / We now at foot and they at head / Imagine the crown worn by them / And we rebuild stairs for them to ascend.”

Power (Stagger Lee, Steel Hammer), an actor, rapper, teacher, and hip-hop theater pioneer, and actor, teacher, and director Cofield (One Night in Miami, Dutchman), the associate artistic director of the company, previously collaborated on Power’s play The Seven, and they are in sync on Seize the King, balancing the old and the new with an occasional slip toward pedagogy and goofiness. The play, which had its world premiere in August 2018 at La Jolla Playhouse, takes place on Christopher and Justin Swader’s crooked stage, effectively lit by Alan C. Edwards, evoking rampant corruption and Richard’s state of mind; Brittany Bland’s projections range from scenes of war and protest to shimmering water and emphasis on a large crack in the back wall. Samantha Shoffner’s props, including a bathtub, a topiary, and a memorial table, are wheeled on and off by either the actors or dancers Daniela Funicello, Tracy Dunbar, Jenny Hegarty Freeman, Hannah Gross, and Alisa Gregory, who perform Tiffany Rea-Fisher’s lovely choreography to interstitial music by sound designer Frederick Kennedy, from Baroque to hip-hop.

Mika Eubanks seems to have had a ball designing the costumes, especially Queen Woodville’s — she’s styled like Beyoncé — and Richard’s coronation robe, which gets its own scene, proudly exhibited by Greygor the tailor (Foster), who explains, “Look this, crimson cloth of maggot Kermes / Peeled from trees of oak to retrieve the reddish juice / Insect bodies dried out to produce dye / Human bodies dried out to produce cloth / Blood-red pure crimson death to give life / All sacrifice for him no matter cost.”

Boddie plays Richard with a limp but is always standing tall, not hunched over, and is more handsome than the wicked Gloucester is usually portrayed. Foster is terrific as Hastings, a steadfast and honest man, Reverend Shaw, whose piety is for sale, and Greygor, who appears to have walked out of an episode of Pose. Patterson and Espinosa delight in their characters’ verbal battles with Richard, but it’s Elrod who nearly steals the show in multiple roles, from the well-meaning Buckingham and the chorus to a wise gardener and a royal servant who has an unusual message for Hastings and the Queen: “Uh, well, I wasn’t supposed to deliver nothing further but I did hear him say ‘The Queen ain’t shit! I’ma prune her ass’ or something to that effect.” You won’t find that in Shakespeare’s original text.