All Hail the King!

I'm not sure if anyone but me and the old folks have been watching The Hollow Crown on Masterpiece Theatre, but if you have I'm sure you find it fantastic as I do.  I'd read about the concept - Richard II and Henry IV & V as miniseries with big names - a few months ago when it originally aired in England and thought it sounded pretty interesting.  But I had no idea that it would be airing here.  As most cool and amazing theatre things, I assumed it would stay in UK.  But last week, I was surprised to see a write-up on it in the NY Times theatre section.  

As you may know, I am seeing Richard II in Stratford in just over 2 weeks time, so I've been attempting to at least get the general gist of what to expect.  I first tried to read the original work by Shakespeare.  But after a few hours, and my mind wandering all over the place, I gave up.  I'm not sure what it about this one, but it's super difficult for me to understand.  I think it may have something to do with the sheer number of characters; most of which are men with fairly similar names, that's perplexing my little brain.

So, since reading didn't work, it was off to the next best thing - Masterpiece Theatre.  Thank goodness MPT decided to show it just before I left!  I'm officially 1 hour 45 minutes in to the 2 hours 45 minute piece, and I must admit, (under pain of losing my English-y girl card) I haven't the foggiest idea of what's happening but, nonetheless it's pretty impossible to look away. The cast they were able to compile is a virtual who's who of great British stage actors: Ben Whishaw, Rory Kinnear, David Morrissey, David Bradley, and about a half dozen others that I know by face if not by name.  (And this is just the first series - I haven't even seen the cast lists for series 2-4 yet!)  All of which are playing their parts admirably, but it's Ben Whishaw who's been commanding my attention all evening.

I've never seen James Bond, but I've heard Whishaw played Q in the last movie, which is where most people know him from.  But up until Bond, he's been known for his Shakespearean work and after watching him, I can see why.  He mentioned in an interview that he loosely based his Richard on Michael Jackson, which I can most definitely see.  He's crazy as a hootie-owl, odd, effeminate, but also terrifying; which I'm assuming (as I'm still not so clear on plot lines) is the point.

Don't get me wrong, I've gathered a bit - Richard's a loon and banishes Bolingbrooke, then Bolingbrooke comes back and usurps the crown (why this happens, is still not clear). Fortunately, this total and utter confusion, has succeeded in making me more excited for the show in Stratford instead of less. After seeing what Whishaw did, I can't wait to see what David Tennant does.  I can only imagine it will be un-look-away-able as well.  Especially based on the new rocking style he's sporting.  Should make for an utterly enjoyable, and completely new evening.  And if for some reason, there are still cobwebs in this little brain of mine after seeing the show, there's still one last resort: Google always knows all!