Act I scene 1 - London
Enter KING RICHARD II, JOHN OF GAUNT, with other Nobles and Attendants
KING RICHARD II
Old John of Gaunt, time-honour'd Lancaster,
Hast thou according to thy oath and band
Brought hither Henry Hereford, thy bold son,
Here to make good the boisterous late appeal,
Which then our leisure would not let us hear, 5
Against the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray?
JOHN OF GAUNT
I have, my liege.
KING RICHARD II
Tell me moreover, hast thou sounded him,
If he appeal the Duke on ancient malice;
Or worthily as a good subject should 10
On some known ground of treachery in him.
JOHN OF GAUNT
As near as I could sift him on that argument,
On some apparent danger seen in him,
Aim'd at your highness, no inveterate malice.
KING RICHARD II
Then call them to our presence face to face, 15
And frowning brow to brow, ourselves will hear
Th’accuser, and the accused, freely speak;
High-stomach'd are they both, and full of ire,
In rage, deaf as the sea; hasty as fire.
Enter HENRY BOLINGBROKE and THOMAS MOWBRAY
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Many years of happy days befall 20
My gracious Sovereign, my most loving Liege.
THOMAS MOWBRAY
Each day still better other's happiness,
Until the heavens, envying earth's good hap,
Add an immortal title to your Crown.
KING RICHARD II
We thank you both: yet one but flatters us, 25
As well appeareth by the cause you come,
Namely to appeal each other of high treason.
Cousin of Hereford, what dost thou object
Against the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Mowbray?
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
First, heaven be the record to my speech, 30
In the devotion of a subject's love,
Come I appellant to this Princely presence.
Now, Thomas Mowbray, do I turn to thee,
And mark my greeting well: for what I speak,
My body shall make good upon this earth, 35
Or my divine soul answer it in heaven.
Thou art a Traitor, and a Miscreant;
Too good to be so, and too bad to live,
Once more, the more to aggravate the note,
With a foul Traitor's name stuff I thy throat, 40
And wish, so please my Sovereign, ere I move,
What my tongue speaks, my right drawn sword may prove.
THOMAS MOWBRAY
Let not my cold words here accuse my zeal:
'Tis not the bitter clamour of two tongues,
Can arbitrate this cause betwixt us twain: 45
The blood is hot that must be cool'd for this:
Yet can I not of such tame patience boast,
As to be hush'd, and nought at all to say:
First, the fair reverence of your Highness curbs me
From giving reins and spurs to my free speech, 50
Which else would post until it had return'd
These terms of treason doubly down his throat.
Setting aside his high blood's royalty,
And let him be no Kinsman to my Liege,
I do defy him, and I spit at him, 55
Call him a slanderous Coward, and a Villain:
Which to maintain, I would allow him odds,
And meet him, were I tied to run afoot
Even to the frozen ridges of the Alps.
Mean time, let this defend my loyalty, 60
By all my hopes, most falsely doth he lie.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Pale trembling Coward, there I throw my gage,
Disclaiming here the kindred of a King,
And lay aside my high blood's Royalty,
Which fear, not reverence, makes thee to except. 65
If guilty dread have left thee so much strength
As to take up mine Honour's pawn, then stoop.
By that, and all the rites of Knighthood else,
Will I make good against thee arm to arm,
What I have spoken, or thou canst devise. 70
THOMAS MOWBRAY
I take it up, and by that sword I swear,
Which gently laid my Knighthood on my shoulder,
I'll answer thee in any fair degree,
Or Chivalrous design of knightly trial:
And when I mount, alive may I not light, 75
If I be Traitor, or unjustly fight.
KING RICHARD II
What doth our Cousin lay to Mowbray's charge?
It must be great that can inherit us,
So much as of a thought of ill in him
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Look what I said, my life shall prove it true, 80
That Mowbray hath received eight thousand Nobles
In name of lendings for your Highness' Soldiers,
The which he hath detain'd for lewd employments,
Like a false Traitor, and injurious Villain.
Besides I say, and will in battle prove, 85
That all the Treasons for these eighteen years
Complotted and contrived in this Land
Fetch’d from false Mowbray their first head and spring.
Further I say, and further will maintain
Upon his bad life, to make all this good, 90
That he did plot the Duke of Gloucester's death,
Suggest his soon-believing adversaries,
And consequently, like a Traitor Coward,
Sluiced out his innocent soul through streams of blood:
Which blood, like sacrificing Abel's, cries 95
To me for justice and rough chastisement;
And by the glorious worth of my descent,
This arm shall do it, or this life be spent.
KING RICHARD II
How high a pitch his resolution soars:
Thomas of Norfolk, what say'st thou to this? 100
THOMAS MOWBRAY
Oh let my Sovereign turn away his face
And bid his ears a little while be deaf,
Till I have told this slander of his blood,
How God and good men hate so foul a liar.
KING RICHARD II
Mowbray, impartial are our eyes and ears, 105
Were he my brother, nay my kingdom's heir,
As he is but my father's brother's son;
Now, by my Sceptre's awe, I make a vow,
Such neighbor-nearness to our sacred blood
Should nothing privilege him, nor partialize 110
The unstooping firmness of my upright soul.
He is our subject, Mowbray, so art thou:
Free speech, and fearless, I to thee allow.
THOMAS MOWBRAY
Then Bolingbroke, as low as to thy heart,
Through the false passage of thy throat, thou liest: 115
Three parts of that receipt I had for Calais
Disbursed I duly to his highness' soldiers;
The other part reserv’d I by consent,
For that my Sovereign Liege was in my debt
Upon remainder of a dear Account, 120
Since last I went to France to fetch his Queen:
Now swallow down that Lie. For Gloucester's death,
I slew him not; but, to mine own disgrace,
Neglected my sworn duty in that case:
For you, my noble Lord of Lancaster, 125
The honourable Father to my foe
Once I did lay an ambush for your life,
A trespass that doth vex my grieved soul:
But ere I last received the Sacrament
I did confess it, and exactly begg'd 130
Your Grace's pardon, and I hope I had it.
This is my fault: as for the rest appeall'd,
It issues from the rancour of a Villain,
A recreant, and most degenerate Traitor,
Which in myself I boldly will defend; 135
And interchangeably hurl down my gage
Upon this overweening Traitor's foot,
To prove myself a loyal Gentleman,
Even in the best blood chamber'd in his bosom.
KING RICHARD II
Wrath-kindled Gentlemen, be ruled by me: 140
Let's purge this choler without letting blood:
This we prescribe, though no Physician,
Deep malice makes too deep incision.
Forget, forgive, conclude and be agreed,
Our Doctors say This is no month to bleed. 145
Good Uncle, let this end where it begun,
We'll calm the Duke of Norfolk; you, your son.
JOHN OF GAUNT
To be a make-peace shall become my age,
Throw down, my son, the Duke of Norfolk's gage.
KING RICHARD II
And Norfolk, throw down his. 150
JOHN OF GAUNT
When, Harry, when? Obedience bids,
Obedience bids I should not bid again.
KING RICHARD II
Norfolk, throw down, we bid; there is no boot.
THOMAS MOWBRAY
Myself I throw, dread Sovereign, at thy foot.
My life thou shalt command, but not my shame: 155
The one my duty owes, but my fair name
Despite of death, that lives upon my grave,
To dark dishonour's use, thou shalt not have.
I am disgraced, impeach'd, and baffled here,
Pierced to the soul with slander's venom'd spear: 160
The which no balm can cure, but his heart-blood
Which breathed this poison.
KING RICHARD II
Rage must be withstood:
Give me his gage: Lions make Leopards tame.
THOMAS MOWBRAY
Yea, but not change his spots: take but my shame,
And I resign my gage. My dear, dear Lord, 165
The purest treasure mortal times afford
Is spotless reputation: that away,
Men are but gilded loam, or painted clay.
Mine Honour is my life; both grow in one:
Take Honor from me, and my life is done. 170
Then, dear my liege, mine Honor let me try,
In that I live; and for that will I die.
KING RICHARD II
Cousin, throw down your gage,
Do you begin.
HENRY BOLINGBROKE
Oh God defend my soul from such foul sin. 175
Shall I seem Crest-fall'n in my father's sight,
Or with pale beggar-fear impeach my height
Before this out-dared dastard? Ere my tongue
Shall wound mine honor with such feeble wrong,
Or sound so base a parle, my teeth shall tear 180
The slavish motive of recanting fear,
And spit it bleeding in his high disgrace,
Where shame doth harbour, even in Mowbray's face.
KING RICHARD II
We were not born to sue, but to command,
Which since we cannot do to make you friends, 185
Be ready, as your lives shall answer it,
At Coventry, upon Saint Lambert's day:
There shall your swords and Lances arbitrate
The swelling difference of your settled hate:
Since we cannot atone you, you shall see 190
Justice design the Victor's Chivalry.
Exeunt
The evening would have started with an enormous crowd onstage dancing to Lizzo's "Heaven Help Me." This song is the embodiment of the "real" people of this play - raucous, energetic, full of life. Henry is in the midst of them, fueling the celebration. Their raw energy is infectious.
The sound designer, Sky, blended the song with Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi," a DJ's mix that doesn't quite work. Embodying Richard II, the song highlights his need for public approval. As the song overtakes Lizzo, Richard's followers overtake Henry's. Their carefully controlled energy smothers the celebration until everyone is obediently awaiting Richard's arrival. His fanfare is the opening of "Born This Way."
As the scene begins, Richard lounges in his throne on the middle platform. Aumerle lounges on the staircase up to the tall platform, with Gaunt on the main stage.
While unconventional, we decided in rehearsals to make this scene more private than the script initially suggests. We wanted to differentiate this scene from 1.3, particularly how Mowbray and Bolingbroke speak to each other and Richard. While this scene is full of public pageantry and spectacle, it also devolves into name-calling and brawling worthy of a tavern (or a government chamber). For Mowbray and Bolingbroke, the fact that their grievances were being heard without a public audience indicated that Richard was not taking them seriously. It allowed the scene to start with high tension and stakes from the beginning.
On line 20, Bolingbroke tries to play the courtly game by flattering Richard. But then Mowbray out-flatters him. What a brown-noser.
Bolingbroke and John of Gaunt claimed the SL half of the main deck; Mowbray remained on the right, with Richard as the dividing line.
In these first two speeches, the accusations are extremely formal and stiff, containing language designed to publicly accuse and demean. Notice also that they are generalized - Traitor, treason, Coward. The specific charges will be heard later.
The artistic team struggled for months to identify our version of the gages. Given our costume design and setting in a contemporary world, it was hard to believe that these nobles would be walking around carrying fancy gloves - it's just not a common thing now, even for the ridiculously rich.
We considered hats, handkerchiefs, daggers, we even tried rings - they bounced comically around the stage. I tried to develop a physical gesture that would make sense (I was not successful). But it also needed to be something that someone would only carry 2 of, as Aumerle runs out of gages in 4.1. Finally we settled on patches on clothing, the mark of military ranks. It was an item that symbolized honor and therefore held meaning in being thrown, but was also an item that could easily be removed from clothing (thank you dyed velcro!) and would retain some force when hurled.
This was our Everest.
Bolingbroke is hot-headed. We decided in rehearsal that Bolingbroke and Gaunt had discussed how to approach this conflict; Gaunt had counseled restraint, to be calm and methodical. This is the first time Bolingbroke starts to push a little too hard, prompting the response from Richard.
Mowbray, on the other hand, is unflappable. He doesn't do anything without thinking three steps ahead, and is convinced that reason will prevail.
Until now. Bolingbroke can't tolerate being called a Traitor, and in our version, charges at Mowbray, prompting Richard to stand and descend, separating them by force of his presence.
Aumerle steps in to hold back Mowbray while Gaunt goes to his son, Bolingbroke. Bolinbgroke's itching desire to throttle Mowbray, and Mowbray's to defend himself, created some real danger of violence. Committing violence in the presence of the king would be, shall we say, not a good idea.
I particularly love the repetition of "Obedience bids," which comes from the Folio. It led to a great physical moment, where Gaunt reaches to grab Mowbray's gage from Bolingbroke but Bolingbroke jerks it out of reach.
The history behind this scene is dense, and is essentially an excuse to get the action of the play started. Richard is at the height of his power, having just squashed the Lords Appellant and their rebellion. The events are those from approximately 1397-1399, if you would like to look them up. What is relevant to the scene is that Mowbray and Bolingbroke were both members of the Lords Appellant, who temporarily removed Richard from power over objections to his favorites (the first version of Bushy, Bagot, and Green). They succeeded in their rebellion, removing the favorites in the Merciless Parliament, only to decide to leave Richard in charge but with drastically reduced power. Richard slowly regained his power until he took his revenge in 1397, executing three of the 5 Lords Appellant. Mowbray and Bolingbroke are the last two; both are eager to remain alive, and so they accuse each other in defense of themselves.
Thomas, Duke of Gloucester, was also one of the Lords Appellant, and Richard's uncle. He was the most recent to die, under suspicious circumstances in Calais. His death is the source of the accusation of treason from Bolingbroke.
As the King and lords exit, Gaunt was the last to go. The Duchess of Gloucester entered silently earlier in the scene, bearing witness to those responsible for her husband's death. As Gaunt begins to exit, she stops him, and we launch immediately into 1.2.