by William Shakespeare
adapted by Caroline Devlin
directed by Carlo Campbell
Having helped his brother King Edward IV take the throne of England, the jealous tormented Richard, Duke of York, plots to seize power for himself. Masterfully deceiving and plotting against nearly everyone in the royal court, including his eventual wife, Lady Anne and his brother George, Duke of Clarence, Richard orchestrates a bloody rise to power before finding all his gains jeopardized by those he betrayed.
Theatre in the X's interpretation is an homage to the first Black Theatre company in the recorded history of North America, The African Grove Theatre. This company, founded 44 years before the abolition of slavery, at a time when few blacks were literate (because it was illegal) took on this Shakespearean language, and the powers that be, and triumphed, in their own way. They laid the track for us and through their work and now with this production of Richard III, we honor them.