http://news.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?
xml=/news/2005/07/17/nsadd17.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/07/17/ixhome.html
Richard III recast as Saddam Hussein
By Chris Hastings and Chine Mbubaegbu
(Filed: 17/07/2005)
He has been depicted as a demented hunchbank and even a Nazi
dictator, but supporters of King Richard III say that a new
production of the Shakespeare play that portrays him as Saddam
Hussein is the ultimate insult.
The Richard III Society, which campaigns to restore the reputation
of the demonised monarch, claims that the latest interpretation is
too much even for Shakespeare's villainous incarnation of the
medieval king.
Saddam Hussein: Seen as an 'ideal vehicle' for the play
Dr Philip Stone, of the Richard III Society, said: "We have our work
cut out for us as it is without going to this extreme.
"Although we do not agree with Shakespeare's portrayal of the king,
we do try to give each individual production the benefit of the
doubt.
"The problem with this idea is that Saddam Hussein is very much
alive and people have very definite ideas about him. I don't think
even Shakespeare is going that far.
"Shakespeare's Richard was a nasty piece of work but he was also a
lot of fun. A lot of women fall for him in the play. I don't think
there are many people who have fallen head over heels in love with
Saddam."
Shakespeare's Richard III, which is most commonly dated to 1591 or
1592, charts Richard's bloody rise to power after the civil war
between the royal houses of York and Lancaster. The character is
portrayed as a deformed monster who is willing to murder members of
his own family to get his hands on the throne of England. Much of
what happens in the play is either complete fabrication or the
subject of historical speculation.
The play is being produced for a new RSC festival next year that
will include performances of all 37 of the Bard's plays. The new
production, featuring a pan-Arab cast, will be dir-ected by Sulayman
al-Bassam, the Anglo-Kuwaiti director.
Mr al-Bassam is convinced that the play is an ideal vehicle for an
exploration of Saddam's brutal reign of terror. He is, however,
considering a drastic reworking of the plot.
"The RSC have given me a significant amount of freedom about how I
might approach the play," he said.
Additional reporting by Eloise Stonborough
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