By William Shakespeare
Translation and adaptation by Marius von Mayenburg
Schaubühne Berlin
Directed by Thomas Ostermeier
Dragging his clubfoot and hunchback across a clay- and glitter-caked stage, Shakespeare’s most wretched villain weaponizes his ugliness against a kingdom ravaged by its own elite infighting. In this prescient production, German director Thomas Ostermeier (An Enemy of the People, 2013 Next Wave) laces iambic pentameter with relentless drumming, bringing his trademark pop-cultural canniness to bear. Cult Shakespearean actor Lars Eidinger is cast as a kind of rock-star despot, growling his soliloquies into a microphone that swings overhead like the Sword of Damocles, as he alternately seduces and bombasts his nation into chaos.
Set design by Jan Pappelbaum
Costume design by Florence von Gerkan
Music by Nils Ostendorf
Video by Sébastien Dupouey
Dramaturgy by Florian Borchmeyer
Lighting design by Erich Schneider
Meet fellow BAM members over a glass of wine in the Fisher Lower Lobby.
German director Thomas Ostermeier discusses his career at BAM—from his various contemporary adaptations of Ibsen to this season’s production of Richard III—with playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins.
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