Review: The African Company Presents Richard III

The costumes and set design, along with the performances of many of the actors, were very strong elements of the department of theatre and dance's recent production of "The African Company Presents Richard III." That being said, the script was predictable and lacked dimension, keeping the audience from truly connecting with what was happening on stage.

Founded during the early 19th Century, The African Company was the first African-American theater company formed in America. As one would expect, this company of African-American performers struggled to support themselves in antebellum America.

Representing the discriminatory white majority were the characters of Stephen Price, the manager of the high-society Park Theatre, and The Constable-Man, the unnamed Irish police officer. These antagonists were portrayed as unnaturally static throughout the play, likening them more to villains one might expect to read about in a children's book rather than in a play.

Playing the role of Stephen Price was the University of Richmond's own Walter Schoen, chairman of the theatre and dance department, and playing the role of The Constable-Man was Mark Ferguson, a sophomore and a member of the University Players. Each delivered convincing performances in spite of the lack of depth the playwright gave to their characters.

Other notable performances were made by D.L. Hopkins as the unassuming and resilient Papa Shakespeare, and J. Ron Fleming as the haughty James "Jimmy" Hewlett. Possibly the most poignant moment of the play came during a flashback Hewlett had of a time when he was performing Hamlet in a predominately white theatre.

After Hewlett mispronounced one of his lines, a boisterous audience member commanded that he sing "Possum up a Gum Tree" instead of finishing the monologue. Hewlett proceeded to sing and dance about on stage much to the amusement of his unsympathetic audience.

Despite the quality performance of the actors, certain aspects of the performance were still underwhelming. Carlyle Brown, the playwright, represented five different dialects among his eight-person cast. Although New York was, and still is, an amalgam of many international cultures, the combination of Irish, Jamaican, Dutch, English and street slang dialects was, at times, frustratingly baffling.

Also, as previously mentioned, the play was easily anticipated. Two storylines wound themselves together in this production. The first was a typical and unconvincing love story between Ann and Hewlett. Her irrational and unrequited love came between Jimmy and the production of his play, which was so pivotal to his acceptance into high society. In the end, as one might presume, Hewlett admitted his love for Ann in time for opening night and the show went on.

The second storyline was the clash between The African Company and the Park Theatre. Although there were some heated interactions between these two groups, the show ended rather suddenly, with the African Company presumably pledging to never produce Shakespeare again and thereby being granted release. Not much is said as to the future of The African Company's production of Richard III, to the Park Theatre's production of Richard III or the future of The African Company itself.

Although the acting, set design and costume design were impressive, the production was, as a whole, relatively uninspiring. Aside from a few moving scenes, the play does not linger that much with the audience after they have left the theater. But this speaks more to the disconnectedness of the script rather than the ineptitude of those involved in its production.

Geoff Weathersby is a sophomore at the University of Richmond.