Theatre review: The African Company Presents Richard III @ Greenwich Theatre, Feb 09
Based on the true story from 1821, the all Black African Theatre Company have been staging their version of Shakespeare’s Richard III in downtown New York. But when Stephen Price (Hutcheon) – an uptown, white theatre producer – decides to also stage the play, he fears that the competition from the company’s production (which has been a hit among black and white audiences) will hinder ticket sales. Enlisting the help of the local police (Ryerson) he thus hatches a plan to close the production.
The play does take a while to get going as the script focuses on background stories or unnecessary plot details which simply detract from the main story line. Writer Carlyle Brown has also used monologues to explain the characters but these lack any real depth and add nothing significant to our understanding of the play. This results in the first half of the production feeling too long and tedious. However, the second half does pick up and once the attention turns to depicting the company’s actual struggles, the play becomes far more interesting and engaging to watch.
The cast is somewhat of a mixed bag. At one end is newcomer Krystle Hylton whose performance as Ann Johnson stands out. She skilfully holds her own amongst a cast of actors who are all more experienced than her. At the other end unfortunately is Chris Tummings, who is weak and unconvincing in the role of William Henry Brown as he fails to capture the character’s determined and passionate spirit.
The African Company Presents Richard III is an interesting and unusual story about how Black actors struggled to get their work to the stage. However its script and storytelling methods let it down as what turns out to be an average production had all the potential to be engaging and entertaining from the start.
Written by Carlyle Brown
Directed by Chuck Mike
Cast: Maxwell Hutcheon, Simon Ryerson, Antonia Kemi Coker, Krystle Hylton, Shango Baku , Charlie Folorunsho and Chris Tummings
