Cultural depictions of Richard II of England
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Richard II of England has been depicted in popular culture a number of times.
[edit] Literature
- Richard is the central character in Richard II, a play by William Shakespeare dating from around 1595.
- Richard is also the main antagonist in the anonymous unfinished play, often known as Thomas of Woodstock or Richard II, Part I, whose composition is dated between 1591 and 1595.
- He is the protagonist of the play Richard of Bordeaux by Gordon Daviot.
- He is a character in the novel The Named by Marianne Curley.
- He is one of the main characters in The Crucible Trilogy by Sara Douglass
[edit] Television
Richard has been portrayed a number of times on television, mainly in versions of Shakespeare's play. In this context he has been played by:
- Alan Wheatley in a BBC version, The Tragedy of King Richard II (1950)
- Maurice Evans in an American version, Richard II (1954)
- David William in the BBC series An Age of Kings (1960), which contained all the history plays from Richard II to Richard III
- Hannes Messemer in a West German version, König Richard II (1968)
- Ian McKellen in another BBC version, The Tragedy of King Richard II (1970)
- Tamás Jordán in a Hungarian version, II. Richárd (1976)
- Derek Jacobi in the BBC Shakespeare version, King Richard the Second (1978)
- Michael Pennington in the BBC series The Wars of the Roses (1989), which included all of Shakespeare's history plays performed by the English Shakespeare Company
- Aleksandr Romantsov in a Russian version, Richard Vtoroi (1992)
- Fiona Shaw in a British TV film, Richard II (1997)
- Michael Maertens in another German version, Richard II (2001)
- Mark Rylance in another BBC film, Richard II (2003), broadcast live from the Globe Theatre in London
Richard has also been played on television by:
- Andrew Osborn in a BBC adaptation of Richard of Bordeaux (1938)
- Peter Cushing in another BBC adaptation of Richard of Bordeaux (1955)
- Roger Allam in a BBC film, Henry IV (1995), a version of Shakespeare's Henry IV, Part 1
[edit] Video
- Richard was played by Mattie Osian in a straight-to-video film adaptation of Shakespeare's Richard the Second (2001).
- David Birney played him in an American video Richard II (1982), which was intended to simulate an Elizabethan stage production of the play.