King Richard III - freely after Shakespeare

Richard, Duke of Gloucester, is hunchbacked and lame. He loathes dancing and feasting, preferring grim war to cheerful peace. Cheated by nature of outward charm, he resolves to become an arch-villain and remove anyone who stands in his way.

By any means necessary, he wants to seize the royal throne still occupied by his brother, King Edward IV. Through clever scheming he turns King Edward against his brother George, who is sent to the Tower and meets an early end there.

Next comes his finest trick: Richard woos Princess Anne with flattering words. She furiously rejects him at first as the murderer of her husband and father, but eventually lets herself be won over by his hypocritical, honeyed speech. When his ailing brother King Edward also dies, the path to the throne seems clear at last. Yet a few more obstacles and surprises still await Richard.

A game of power and power-hunger begins - one that, as so often in human history, ends with the words: The king is dead, long live the king!

Alternate venue in bad weather: Alte Mälzerei. Info at 02621 - 82333.