Boston Shakespeare In The Park: Richard III Comes To The Common

BOSTON, MA — He bullied his way into power, his jokes were considered off color at best, he blamed others for his own political downfall and put on a false face to deceive the people before he was confronted by his own hollowness.

Now Richard III, Shakespeare's famously most villainist villain comes to the Boston Common starting July 18 in the annual Shakespeare on the Common put on by the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company.

"It's a very clear and simple play about power and a play about lust for power and what happens when power is unchecked," said Director Steven Maler.

Maler told WGBH the show will have a slightly more updated feel, than the 1600s in which it was written.

"I think it also puts the responsibility on us to actually examine ourselves. If we see it too far in the past then we see it as 'well that happened then,' but it is our problem now, as well, as you know," Faran Tahir who plays Richard, told WGBH's Marjorie Eagan Friday afternoon.

If Tahir's name sounds familiar, it could be because you've seen him on Star Trek, and Iron Man.

In spite of Richard III being recognized as a quintessentially evil character, Tahir said he's challenged himself to see the human in the man. Yes, Richard was evil, he killed off his enemies among other things, but Shakespeare, being a genius, also injected something more.

"Which is - there is a conscious," he said.

Each year for the past 24 years, CSC has selected a play and performed Shakespeare on the Common. Modeled after NYC's “Shakespeare in the Park,” the high caliber play is outdoors and free from July 18 to Aug. 5 on the Boston Common.

Bring a blanket a picnic and some bug spray and let yourself be swept into the world of Shakespeare. Show up a bit early to get a spot, don't have a blanket? Lawn Chairs in prime spots are available to rent.

When:

July 18-August 5

Tuesday–Saturday at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7.p.m. (off Mondays)

*3 p.m. matinee on Saturday, August 4

Where:

Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common

How it came to be:
In the summer of 1996, CSC Founding Artistic Director Steven Maler collaborated with the City of Boston, the Boston Parks and Recreation Department, and the Mayor’s Office to present a free outdoor production of "A Midsummer Night’s Dream" in Copley Square.

It was a hit. The Boston Globe chose the production as one of the top 10 theatrical events of the year. Maler was given the Eliot Norton Award for his direction.

So the theatre company built on that and presented Romeo and Juliet at the newly renovated Parkman Bandstand on Boston Common in August of 1997. Since then it has become one of Boston’s most attended annual arts events.

Each summer some 75,000 people show up for the production on the Boston Common, and throughout the past 22 years CSC estimates it's performed for more than 1 million audience members, rain or shine.

Image via Youtube.