‘Richard III’ leaves lasting impression at Utah Shakespeare Festival

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You’re quickly mesmerized by Utah Shakespeare Festival’s take on Shakespeare’s "Richard III."

Our villain hatches a plan to take over the throne following the War of the Roses. The funeral procession for the murdered King Henry VI is making its way along the streets when Richard brings it to a halt. He wants to talk to Henry’s grieving daughter-in-law, Lady Anne, and widow of a prince Richard has had killed. Anne despises him, spits at him. And before the scene is over, she’s passionately kissing the man and agreeing to become his bride. Talk about fickle.

It’s amazing that Elijah Alexander, in the title role, makes you understand why his character can get away with this sort of thing.

Alexander’s Richard isn’t merely a sinister omen of evil. He’s a charmer, a supremely talented manipulator. We all know Richard is nasty, but I never before realized how funny he is. There’s a sharp sense of humor beneath the fangs.

Alexander shows us the reasons behind Richard’s psychotic need for vengeance. During a wedding scene, for example, the physically challenged ruler falls and is made to look weak in front of the court. Alexander makes Richard’s humiliation horrifying. No matter how powerful Richard may become, Alexander makes clear the man will never feel himself anyone’s equal.

It’s a surprising, multifaceted performance. Alexander’s attractive, leading-man looks further indicate that Richard’s affliction is really in his head. Sure, he has a lame leg and a hump, but he’s only psychologically grotesque. And when this Richard goes to war in a climatic battle sequence — expertly choreographed by T. Anthony Marotta — we see in Alexander, despite his afflictions, the no-nonsense attitude of a highly trained soldier.

Obviously, director Kathleen F. Conlin deserves much credit in shaping Alexander’s tour de force. She’s also given the play maybe a dozen moments of stunning visual images. Characters, dead and alive, sometimes silently watch Richard’s deeds from a high balcony bathed in eerie light (by Donna Ruzika). Their unworldly presence suggests Richard’s slow spiritual entrapment.The production’s final moment — simple, still, poetic — feels so right, it leaves a lasting impression. You leave the theater filled up.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at vegastheaterchat @aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas, NV 89125.