Richard III is 'the original supervillain'

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By JEFF KORBELIK / GZO

So how evil is Richard III, the villainous title character in Shakespeare’s play?

According to veteran stage director Bob Hall, he makes the “Dark Knight’s” Joker appear tame by comparison.

“Oh, he’s bad,” said Hall, who is bringing The Bard’s famous play to the Swan Theatre in Wyuka Cemetery.

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Sally Vandeberghe as Princess Anne and Brad Boesen as Richard III in the Flatwater Shakespeare production of "Richard III." (Courtesy of John Nollendorfs)

Sally Vandeberghe as Princess Anne and Brad Boesen as Richard III in the Flatwater Shakespeare production of "Richard III." (Courtesy of John Nollendorfs)

“He’s the original supervillain,” he added. “He’s the prototype of all the other villains that came after him.”

Like the Joker. And Darth Vader. And Tony Soprano. And just about any character that Dennis Hopper ever played.

“The ends justify the means, and if it means murdering his brother, then so be it,” Hall said. “He pretty much did it all.”

Flatwater Shakespeare Company opens “Richard III,” with local actor Brad Boesen as the title character, on Thursday at The Swan.

After generations of civil conflict, England looks forward to some peace and stability under Edward IV, leader of the Yorkist faction.

But Edward’s youngest brother, Richard, remains in a winter of personal discontent while his family triumphs.

Richard, Duke of Gloucester, wants to be king himself and will do anything to gain and keep the crown for himself.

In Shakespeare’s play, Richard confides in his audience as he embarks upon a campaign of deceit and murder, making viewers   unwitting accomplices in his rise to power.

“He loves to share with us,” Hall said. “He’s saying, ‘Come along with me and see how it works.’”

For Boesen, it’s the role of a lifetime. It will be his first lead in a Shakespeare play after having portrayed several supporting roles in previous Flatwater productions.

“Brad has done great character works, and (‘Richard III’) is a character man’s dream,” Hall said. “Having watched him work over the last few years, I felt he was the right person to tackle it. He’s really an accomplished Shakespearean actor.”

Boesen also has another thing going for him.

“He’s tall,” Hall joked.

  Playing a villain won’t be new to the actor. A veteran on the Lincoln scene, Boesen has played unsavory characters in such plays as “Dangerous Liaisons” and “Communicating Doors” at the Lincoln Community Playhouse.

“I really enjoy it,” he said. “Villains are more complex.”

The trick here, he said, is balancing the physicality of the role with all those great Shakespearean speeches. The Bard depicted Richard III as deformed with a withered arm and humped back.

“I want to play the deformity as it exactly is and not let it overshadow anything else,” he said.

Hall said the challenge for him is “finding the balance between humor and seriousness.”

“It’s a tragedy, a comedy and a melodrama,” he said.

Flatwater’s principal cast also includes Richard Sibley, Sally Vandeberghe, Mary Bolin, Judith K. Hart and Juanita Pat Rice, who returns to Lincoln theater after a long absence.

Rice is back in Nebraska after retiring as a teacher in California. She played Gertrude in a William R. Morgan-directed production of “Hamlet” at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in the 1960s. That show featured Hall as Polonius.

Other performers include Flatwater regulars Paden Alexander, Justin Baldinger, Rob Burt, Sam Colwell, George Hansen and Dick Nielsen. Newcomers are Scott Herr, Chloe Kessler, Lindsey Peters and Harper Wilmouth.

The center of attention will be on Boesen and how “bad” he can make Richard.

“I think you will find yourself smiling at him and enjoying him,” Hall said.

Reach Jeff Korbelik at 473-7213 or jkorbelik@journalstar.com.