A new piece written by Kate Saffin, this show sees Helen McGregor play Bess, the cook of soon-to-be King Richard III, as she narrates, describes, witnesses, and gives opinion on the events that Shakespeare sets out in his history play Richard III. One for the history fans maybe, but it is the execution rather than the somewhat niche concept, which lets this production down.Bess’ storytelling is fairly basic, consisting of talking to the audience, the occasional impression, and the odd chuckle. Where other one-handers can be surprisingly gripping, this production struggles to keep us engaged almost from the word go. Though it’s an exciting political story, Bess’ own narration, which never strays from adoration of her master, takes much of the life out of it. Language use often felt stilted and with unnatural pauses, which is particularly disappointing when the writer claims in the programme that wanting to see a woman speak Richard’s words was the reason for the play’s genesis. The scene which sees Bess shrink away to the corner of the stage to narrate the words of two invisible figures ‘conversing’ in the centre of it was a low moment. Why would an audience ever want to stare at an empty stage? Lastly, the technical side of this show does not belong to a production with a professional team - blue lighting for an indoor kitchen, and a red wash for a battle, scream amateur theatre.Though for some the history of this play might be enough to warrant interest, really the production itself did nothing to convince me that watching a woman knead bread as she narrates the events of a Shakespeare play is an exciting idea.
