Richard III (Public Theater) NYC Reviews and Tickets
About the Show
Production Covid-19 Safety ProtocolsShow-Score Member Reviews (89)
See it if You love Shakespeare and Danai Gurira
Don't see it if You not a fan of outdoor theatre or staging that can feel overcrowded sometimes. Some lulls in the action throughout
See it if Being in the middle of Central Park on a summer evening, underneath the stars at the Delacorte theater is the high point of this production.
Don't see it if You want to see something absorbing, captivating, not confusing and interesting.
See it if You must see Shakespeare in the Park!
Don't see it if You're not okay with a nontraditional take that isn't always successful.
See it if you want more shakespeare and enjoy shakespeare in the park; lead was good
Don't see it if you want proper shakespeare without overly indulgent modern casting
See it if you are a Danai fan or love Shakespeare. Incredible and energetic performances all around with a spectacular set
Don't see it if lengthy dramas or Shakespeare aren't for you
See it if If you love Shakespeare in the Park and the Delacorte Theatre experience it's fun no matter what's on.
Don't see it if If you don't like seeing an outdoor play or if a more woke version of Shakespeare upsets you don't see this.
See it if You love Shakespeare in any shape or form or want to see Danai Gurira playing Richard III but few others in the cast are up to the task.
Don't see it if You'd dislike miscast cast overacting & melodrama rather than the serious work that Richard ought to be. While interesting, it doesn't work Read more
See it if You have a free night and want to spend it in Central Park with a classic Shakespeare text
Don't see it if You want an exciting show Read more
Critic Reviews (17)
"These coherently interpreted characters do not add up to a coherent interpretation of the play, which wobbles between shouty polemics and a kind of Tudor snark."
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"when Richard steps out into the audience and explains away his wrongdoings, we listen, enraptured, and applaud on cue. It's the most clever bit of staging in this nearly 3-hour production, which doesn't shed much new light on the 600-year-old play, but is well designed and provides a worthy talent showcase for its actors."
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"It’s certainly a funny tragedy, full of snide asides from the sociopath at its center, but it’s about as breezy as a tornado. The English duke Richard, through trickery and force, rolls like a juggernaut through his own family, murdering right and left, just to reach the crown....Robert O’Hara’s production has ideas — but it is not rich in those other things, and it lets our focus waver."
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"Happily for audiences, if not for the many characters who fall victim to his machinations like ninepins, Richard is onstage almost all the time. Ms. Gurira’s performance makes a memorable case for the benefits of nontraditional casting."
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"The play concludes with order restored and the agent of chaos removed; the audience stumbles into the night, the spell of Gurira’s charisma and Richard’s ambition broken, wondering what it is that Shakespeare’s England, and we, just lived through."
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"The young Prince of Wales and Duke of York wear glitter sneakers. Those shiny shoes exemplify the primary problem of this production: So much is going on, yet so little is going on."
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"Admittedly, not all these disparate-sounding choices add up, and those of us searching for the why in O'Hara's staging will probably come up empty-handed. But I found this 'Richard III' properly thrilling. My kingdom for more nights like that."
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We've had some great productions of Richard III in recent years, along with some really terrible ones, but none have been as conflicted as Robert O'Hara's staging at the Delacorte. It's a mass of warring impulses, both high-concept and deeply conventional, eager to make a statement but lacking anything meaningful to say. A handful of strong supporting performers do their best to keep this rudderless ship on course, but nobody should have to work that hard, not on a warm summer's night in Central Park.
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