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"I'm sort of 9 or 10 ... I was outraged in the
sort of way that children get outraged about the way that
Shakespeare had unfairly represented this man and had people be
vile to this man because of the way he looked," Andoh told
Reuters.
"As a child growing up in the Cotswolds in the 1960s, it was
something I resonated with."
Decades later, Andoh is starring in the lead role and directing
her iteration of the play, set in the Cotswolds and in which
Richard's "otherness" is race rather than disability.
She is the only Black actress among the cast and rather than
focus on the stereotypical evil character, she wanted to look at
someone "who has been pushed and pulled in a certain way ... and
at a certain point goes 'Ok no more of this. I will make my
mark'".
She emphasised she was not changing the language or the text of
the play or playing Richard as a woman, but "doing it in this
frame and through this lens".
Andoh, whose portrayal of Richard comes to London's Rose Theatre
after a run in Liverpool, shot to global fame as Lady Danbury in
Netflix period drama "Bridgerton", a role she reprises in the
spin-off "Queen Charlotte" released next week.
"Bridgerton" was a huge hit upon its release in 2020 and won
praise for its diverse cast.
"It's a style of drama that people may be familiar with ... it's
a style of costume drama that some people may have swerved
mightily and this has given an extra little edge to it... that
may draw people in a different way," she said.
(Reporting by Marie-Louise Gumuchian; Editing by Alison
Williams)
(Photo: Actor and Director Adjoa Andoh performs
on stage in the play "Richard III" in Liverpool, Britain in this
handout picture taken in April, 2023. Manuel Harlan/Handout via
REUTERS)
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