It's Soliloquy Comparison Time!

From time to time, I have enjoyed posting videos of a few different actors doing the same Shakespearean soliloquy, in order to compare/contrast the different approaches actors take to the same text. Today, I've decided to do it with one of my favorite soliloquies: Richard's opening speech in Richard III. The one that goes as follows:

Now is the winter of our discontent
Made glorious summer by this sun of York;
And all the clouds that lour'd upon our house
In the deep bosom of the ocean buried.
Now are our brows bound with victorious wreaths;
Our bruised arms hung up for monuments;
Our stern alarums changed to merry meetings,
Our dreadful marches to delightful measures.
Grim-visaged war hath smooth'd his wrinkled front;
And now, instead of mounting barded steeds
To fright the souls of fearful adversaries,
He capers nimbly in a lady's chamber
To the lascivious pleasing of a lute.
But I, that am not shaped for sportive tricks,
Nor made to court an amorous looking-glass;
I, that am rudely stamp'd, and want love's majesty
To strut before a wanton ambling nymph;
I, that am curtail'd of this fair proportion,
Cheated of feature by dissembling nature,
Deformed, unfinish'd, sent before my time
Into this breathing world, scarce half made up,
And that so lamely and unfashionable
That dogs bark at me as I halt by them;
Why, I, in this weak piping time of peace,
Have no delight to pass away the time,
Unless to spy my shadow in the sun
And descant on mine own deformity:
And therefore, since I cannot prove a lover,
To entertain these fair well-spoken days,
I am determined to prove a villain
And hate the idle pleasures of these days.
Plots have I laid, inductions dangerous,
By drunken prophecies, libels and dreams,
To set my brother Clarence and the king
In deadly hate the one against the other:
And if King Edward be as true and just
As I am subtle, false and treacherous,
This day should Clarence closely be mew'd up,
About a prophecy, which says that 'G'
Of Edward's heirs the murderer shall be.
Dive, thoughts, down to my soul: here
Clarence comes.

First, I'll show the classic interpretation by Sir Laurence Olivier, from his 1955 film version. This one is famous not only for being one of the most popular, enduring film portrayals of Richard, but also for Olivier lifting a bit of a monologue from the last Henry VI play (Act III, Sc. 2). One has to appreciate the way Olivier addresses the camera, and the various levels he finds within the speech. Despite some of the melodramatic style, it's a pretty good performance.

Ian McKellen's portrayal in the 1995 film, forty years after Olivier's film, is a very different kind of performance. Some of the speech is in front of the crowd, followed by a very intimate chat with the camera in the men's bathroom. McKellen also includes a few lines from Henry VI in his screenplay, but not nearly as much as Olivier. It's a much more subtle performance, and more convincingly sinister. 

Here's a very "minimalist" reading of the soliloquy from British actor, David Morrissey (widely known for his role as The Governor in AMC's The Walking Dead). I like being able to focus purely on the text in this performance, and I also enjoy hearing a bit of Morrissey's North Country accent. It's maybe not quite as impressive as McKellen or Olivier, but it's a fine reading, nonetheless.

Finally, this last video is a very fun, idiosyncratic reading of the soliloquy, featuring Irish actor Jonjo O'Neill, from the Royal Shakespeare Company. This is a unique rendering of the character: O'Neill sounds unstable, bordering on psychotic, with a dark current of humor underneath the text. And talk about communicating with the camera! He comes right up to the lens, making the viewer feel like he's right there in the room. Very enjoyable...

I wish I could have found a clip of Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of Richard in The Hollow Crown, because it was pretty good, as I recall. He did the monologue shirtless, with a creepy looking prosthetic hump. It really highlighted Richard's deep bitterness about his physical deformity, in a very visual way. If I can find a clip, I'll add it to this blog post.
​So that's it...Richard III, one of the ultimate Shakespeare baddies. Hope you enjoyed it!