RSC's Richard II Let's talk of graves speech

by David Tennant
more information here www.rsc.org.uk/...
you can also by a DVD of this play on Amazon here www.amazon.com/...

[@charliedavidarnott1537]

My god, what a performance! David is easily one of the best actors on the planet.

[@cgavin1]

Bang average mate. Really. Come on.

[@charliedavidarnott1537]

@@cgavin1 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@Jfk3434]

Really? Every hear of Richard Burton?😂

[@charliedavidarnott1537]

@@Jfk3434 Of course. I would highly suggest you check out some more of David's work. Pay particular attention to how quickly he snaps between characters and extremities of emotions. If you can think of an actor who can do that on the same level as David, please show me them.

[@Envy_editz1]

Nerds

[@jacksonconnell]

The only bad thing about this, is that I never acknowledge him sooner. I knew of seeing his existence from Harry Potter and Doctor Who, but to see him go all out in acting… this guy is just phenomenal. I was hooked when I gave Good Omens a chance, and I’m continuing to stay hooked by this man. Absolutely incredible 👏🏾❤️

[@goodtimes8229]

I just read Richard II, and this dude absolutely nails the role. Outstanding performance.

[@EdnaSpoonhands]

This is David Tennant at his absolute BEST!!!!

[@helenbryant404]

This was utterly brilliant. David Tennant was magnificent in this role and the production was sumptuous and beautiful. I saw it more than once - such a privilege.

[@danielmccollum5451]

this is so amazing. I'm so taken with Tennant's performance, which is so weak, arbitrary, confused and prideful. It makes him all the more tragic. it seems such an apt protrayal for our era.

[@capri300]

what a performance! when he threw the crown on the ground, I got chills!

[@ElleCee62978]

I saw him live in Brooklyn. I’ve been a fan of his since senior year of high school (95-96) when my psych teacher brought in a videotaped copy of Takin’ Over the Asylum, courtesy of her BFF who lived in Scotland.

[@strangementalitypaperYT]

This has to be Shakespeare's most underrated play.

[@LM-et6yt]

i feel very much like i NEED to se DT perform live in my lifetime or i WILL perish in misery...

[@sallyatticum]

He's said he will be doing a play this year. I saw Richard II in New York. It was worth the trip.

[@annapurna9893]

Please do, I saw DT at the RSC many times and he is amazing!

[@littlevenus505]

he is so talented, i'm in love with him...

[@beenagupta4301]

Amazing!!!! Can't believe my eyes the expressions and memorization

[@benjaminsidneykidd-bentley3966]

He is a brilliant actor. Bloody excellent English accent. 'Id love to see him at Stratford or the Globe....

[@gracedorsay2793]

That was excellent! I have never seen a piece so well done!

[@FreakyTeeth]

David really does make Richard here look pitiful and pathetic. Very good acting.

[@thatmanrunning]

If you want an interesting point of contrast check out Fiona Shaw's rendition of this monologue. I really like seeing what actors do with the way Richards gender comes across. And Shaw's version does a lot of interesting stuff with that.

[@HetaliaPowers]

Fuck, this is so perfect, so messy and perfect at the same time

[@claudiaracconta1986]

. Di tombe è tempo di parlare, adesso, di epitaffi, di vermi e di nient'altro; sia nostra carta ormai solo la polvere della terra, e con gli occhi lagrimanti scriviamoci "dolore". Non ci resta che sceglierci il notaio a cui dettare i nostri testamenti. Anzi, nemmeno questo: un re deposto lascia solo il suo corpo, steso a terra: le nostre proprietà, le nostre vite tutto è ora di Bolingbroke; nulla c'è più che possiamo dir nostro tranne la morte, e quel pugno di terra che servirà da calco e da coperchio alle tristi ossa nostre. Per l'amor di Dio, sediamo in terra(67) a dirci storie di morti di re… e come alcuni furono deposti, ed altri uccisi in guerra, altri perseguitati dai fantasmi di quelli ch'essi avevano deposto; alcuni avvelenati dalle mogli, altri uccisi nel sonno: tutti scomparsi per morte violenta… Perché nel cerchio di quella corona che cinge le mortali tempie a un re Madonna Morte tiene la sua corte, e lì siede, grottesca commediante, a farsi scherno della sua maestà, a sogghignar a tutta la sua pompa, concedendogli un alito di vita, una piccola parte sulla scena, perch'egli possa, in veste di monarca, signoreggiare, incutere timore col fulminante sguardo; infondendogli boria e vanità, come se questa frale nostra carne che ci cinge la vita come un muro fosse fatta di bronzo inespugnabile; e, dopo averci così lusingato, arriva lei e, con un spillino, perfora, tic, il muro, ed addio re!… Signori, gente, copritevi il capo, e non beffate con solenni inchini uno ch'è forma sol di carne e sangue. Gettate via rispetto, tradizione, cerimoniale e bassa sudditanza! Fino ad oggi m'avete mal compreso scambiandomi per quello che non sono; mentr'io vivo di pane come voi, ho i bisogni che avete tutti voi, assaporo il dolore come voi, necessito di amici come voi. Se dunque son soggetto a tutto questo, come potete voi chiamarmi re?

[@talosheeg]

This is so well done!

[@seanharman4543]

I have no idea what he was trying to say, but I loved the performance

[@jameslindsay4845]

Brilliant!

[@milosit]

A great performance. Yet, I think Wishaw's messianic portrayal captures a deeper pathos and sense of pre-ordained divinity while Jacobi's '82 performance best resembles Richard in physical appearance.

[@JacobMinger]

My first experience with Richard II was Wishaw’s. It will always hold a special place in my mind

[@ironvlogger9712]

Damn shame they didn't get him for the Hollow Crown series

[@user-ry9sk2gh3q]

Well, to me Ben Whishaw did great too

[@ironvlogger9712]

@@user-ry9sk2gh3q he was wonderful

[@margaretlavender4418]

But Ben Wishaw was completely amazing.

[@ironvlogger9712]

@@margaretlavender4418 yes he was

[@jigglypufflove]

Powerful

[@EdnaSpoonhands]

you could literally hear a pin drop while Tennant was doing that Soliloquy

[@loutiscrive]

astonishing

[@fabulousmyriad267]

You're breaking my heart...King Richard II shouldn't be sympathetic.

[@user-ry9sk2gh3q]

I think, it's not about actor, but about how Shakespeare wrote it.

[@fabulousmyriad267]

Вероніка Чорномаз True.Different actors have different interpretations of the role. I've seen versions where Richard tries to be sympathetic to the audience yet misses the mark. This version of Richard is particularly petulant and childlike yet the vulnerability is so raw.

[@nikhansen8775]

+Tafami He doesn't start out as sympathetic but, as he is written, gradually becomes a sympathetic character as he becomes more self aware (as all the layers of "divinity" are stripped away). At this point in the play he looses a lot of his support and power, and this scene has moments of vulnerability but he is still very capricious. I saw this at the BAM and they did this bit a little differently. The way he told everyone to sit was made more humorous because everyone in attendance was very reluctant, like a party of adults being begged by a child to play a silly game. I preferred it that way, because here is Richard at his most raw and real and the people that are meant to be his friends still insist on treating him like a petulant child. It is heartbreaking.

[@fabulousmyriad267]

Nik Hansen I'm jealous that you had a great experience watching the play live at BAM. I've seen the clip you mentioned, but there is something to be said for the intimacy of watching it live. I look forward the the Shakespeare celebration on April 23.

[@sarahbegin1363]

+Nik Hansen This man has pretty much just written my comment for me! Still, as this is Shakespeare, one of the histories, and David Tennant we are talking of, I simply cannot let such things that I am so fond of go by without my personal word. I have myself memorized this particular monologue-what drew me to this video originally, to see another take on it-and with that and performing it, of course I looked into just what the drive and situation are at this point in the play. Richard for most of the earlier part had a sense of power to be wielded, strong invincibility, and flavours of divinity. Slowly as the show progresses we can see how people and events chip away at the mental castle of security and the king more and more begins to actually contemplate just who he is and what his power is and what may happen. These thoughts up until this point are just hints and wisps-and then we have this scene-this speech where all of those thoughts and realisations that have been there all along (even at the start, though they were embedded in subconscious) all these realisations come out and as Richard admits them to the others he can them admit to himself that he is not divine or supreme-that he is just as any other person, and for this he feels less so as for his entire life he was telling himself he was more so. Thus all leaves him feeling small, scared, and without control as a long suppressed frailty is allowed to surface. This frailty then is allowed to go further-to dominate, as Richard is overwhelmed by the fragility of everyone, even the king, of all life. This then is Richard looking even past the moment-his despair comes from the fragility of all life. He, once he has admitted to himself he is not invincible magnificence, is crushed by the fleeting insignificance of any human existence. So in a sense you might view it as wimpy and child-like, but it is really Richard unlocking his personal insecurities and failure in a heartfelt and difficult communication about what it really means to hold esteem and office. Not really anything at all.

[@ShowalterdontlikeME]

Until I saw David Tennant's rendition of The Hollow Crown speech, I never realised it was a comic interlude.

[@kathryneast6919]

Richard 2

[@jpobrien2123]

I prefer Ben Whishaw's version, but this is still good

[@EdnaSpoonhands]

And you're here, why?

[@Chalky555]

Check out the Mark Rylance version

[@adolforodolfo6929]

But only once - his take on this is dismal.

[@Chalky555]

@@adolforodolfo6929 is subjective of course. I think Mark's (and his job in charge of the globe) is out of this world. Especially when compared to this one. And I rate David.

[@adolforodolfo6929]

@@Chalky555Subjective, of course. I did actually see both of these performances, Mark's and David's, live. I didn't especially enjoy either of them - especially Mark's - and maybe that's because I have my own concept of Richard as a character and the further away a performance is from this, the less I enjoy it. Ben Whishaw's performance in the Hollow Crown is very close to it and I enjoyed that hugely, but I don't see any merit in comparing it with a stage performance since the acting techniques - not least pace of delivery - for a TV performance are completely different.

[@Chalky555]

@@adolforodolfo6929 thank you for your comment, it was an interesting read. Of course it's just not subjective to the audience but also the interpretation of the director and actor. It would be dull if everyone copied SJG. I thought DT's Hamlet was really good but this (for me) was a little over the top. I liked the slight comedic MR gave. It was almost self mocking. We know Richard is fragile and weak and the self mocking let's us know he knows it as well without bursting into tears. As for BW, no doubt he's a talent but I think he was a little young (though around the same age as Richard was) for the role. I agree that on screen it's a huge difference. The actors have an easier time to perfect their performance and we are distracted by the cinematography.

[@MikaTheSwordGuy]

0:40

[@user-cp5he1sd6p]

Please, I've been looking for information for a while and I can't find anything. Can someone tell me the full name of this? Is it a movie or series? Where can i see it? Please help.

[@user-ry9sk2gh3q]

It’s Royal Shakespeare Company play, they streamed it on the services where you should buy the subscription. But you can also find it for free on some pirate torrents

[@user-ry9sk2gh3q]

This is the play “Richard II”

[@EdnaSpoonhands]

iTunes

[@clauxminerva6108]

What platform can I see this on?

[@colonelmustard9405]

Oh dear David... What shall we do with that hair?? Tsk tsk😂

[@billymandalay7513]

Derek Jacobi's version will ever be my favourite.

[@margaretlavender4418]

Billy Mandalay. Ben Wishaw for me.

[@markmaguire2180]

I love him but compare this to Rylance … no comparison

[@tbwatch88]

too Peter Gabrielish and histrionic. cf. Derek Jacobi. sorry.

[@IshmaelSkyes]

This is amazing - and I don't particularly like Richard II

[@naly202]

Erm... a little over the top...

[@woonha4481]

Tennant's Richard is graceless and unnatrual, Ben did a better job

[@user-ry9sk2gh3q]

Ben?

[@woonha4481]

ben whishaw

[@user-ry9sk2gh3q]

oh god of course somehow i tought about cumberbatch and inside my head was like "whaaaaat" in fact, i agree. i absolutely loved ben's performance.

[@sallyatticum]

It's hard to compare a live stage performance where the actors are having to act for the rafters all in one go, and a movie, where the actor is performing intimately for cameras with multiple takes.

[@TEO.187]

That's what I enjoy about it though, Richard shouldn't be graceful imo

[@schribez6656]

King richard II will be replaced by a woman in the new rendition

[@margaretlavender4418]

Joshua Schreiber. NOOOOOOO, Equality to stupid.

[@goodtimes8229]

New rendition?

[@adolforodolfo6929]

It's been done before and doubtless will again. So what?

[@bobtruth4050]

Not a patch on Mr Rylance. Mr Tennant is still stuck in emoting and no real journey of thought.

[@adolforodolfo6929]

If we're talking about Mark Rylance's Richard at the Globe, I thought it was dire, particularly in this speech, which he seemed to play for laughs that aren't really here to be had - seemed to base his portrayal of Richard on Lord Percy in Blackadder II.

[@tomthx5804]

It's funny how they chose to give him girl's hair

[@FreyaEinde]

It's funnier that David wore his hair in a french braid when he had the extensions for the play.