2000's
Theatre Productions
2000
Sump, Hard Fruit, Royal Court
London
I broke my wrist during performance when padding was removed from a training post by mistake......I didn't notice until I was punching it! Carried on the run with strapped hand.
2001
Cymbeline, Cymbeline, Shakespeares' Globe Theatre
Richard had the lead part in this production of Shakespeare's Cymbeline at the Globe Theatre. The story was based on legends of the early Celtic British King Cunobelinus and deals with the themes of innocence and jealousy. Mike Alfreds watched and noted very show to make sure it was different every night, we did ask him not to give notes in the interval on part one. Always remember the performance on 9/11 when planes crash into two towers during our interval, we were watching live on tv in the green room.......we had an hour break before continuing: Every American in the audience tried to call home but failed as the networks were down....
2002
John Wheelwright, A Prayer For Owen Meany, National Theatre Lyttleton
Simon Bent's adaptation of the American novel written by John Irving, it tells the story of John Wheelright and his best friend, Owen Meany growing up together in a small New England town in the 50s-60s. Richard's part was that of John Wheelright.
Review: Prayer
2007
Normal Tate, Donkeys' Years, by Michael Frayn, UK Tour - Sonia Freidman Productions/ATG
2007
Duffy, Life After George, Duchess Theatre
London
Written by Hannie Rayson, the play deals with a series of flashbacks into Georg’s life, his relationship with four women and their relations with each other. Richard had the role of George’s friend and confidante, Duffy.
2008
Freddie Fellowes, Noises Off, Ambassador Theatre Group, UK Tour
One of my personal favorites, Noises Off is a play within a play. The first act is set at dress rehearsal, the night before opening, with the cast still fumbling with exits and entrances, miscues and misspoken lines...and things only go progressively from bad to worse as we follow the shenanigans of the actors from town to town, with all the hilarity going on behind the scenes! Richard got to play the part of Freddie Fellowes.
Nice little review: Noises Off
2008
The Wanderer and 25 other parts, The Hour We Knew Nothing Of Each Other,
National Theatre - London
The Hour We Knew Nothing of Each Other is a one-act play without words written by Peter Handke. The play has 450 characters and focuses on a day in the life of an unspecified town square. Richard had 26 different roles in this one, including the Wanderer. It was first performed in 1992.
Reviews
"Even as a committed text junkie, I find myself moved and exhilarated by this extraordinary piece of epic mime: it offers a panoramic image of human continuity that would be difficult to achieve through words alone"
Michael Billington, The Guardian
Clips
See an introduction the the National Theatre performance here
2009
Gabriel York, When The Rain Stops Falling,
Almeida Theatre - London
Richard played the part of Gabriel York, a man who is about to meet the son he abandoned years before. When the Rain Stops Falling is a family saga set in Australia, and skipping from 1959 to 2039 in years.
I found this rather wonderful review of Richard's
performance as Gabriel York: WTRSF
An epic play spanning four generations and two continents, When The Rain Stops Falling moves from the claustrophobia of a 1950s London flat to the windswept coast of Southern Australia and into the heart of the Australian desert.
The play interweaves a series of connected stories, as seven people confront the mysteries of their past in order to understand their future,revealing how patterns of betrayal, love and abandonment are passed on. Until finally, well into the future, as the desert is inundated with rain, one young man finds the courage to defy the legacy.
Clips
See a short video introduction to the play here
Reviews
"Andrew Bovell's new play is not an easy piece, but it's a gripping mystery with emotional depth"
Charles Spencer, Telegraph