Act I scene 4 - The Court
Enter KING RICHARD II, with BAGOT, BUSHY, and GREEN at one door; and the DUKE OF AUMERLE at another
KING RICHARD II
We did observe. Cousin Aumerle,
How far brought you high Hereford on his way?
DUKE OF AUMERLE
I brought high Hereford, if you call him so,
But to the next highway, and there I left him.
KING RICHARD II
And say, what store of parting tears were shed? 5
DUKE OF AUMERLE
Faith none for me: except the Northeast wind,
Which then grew bitterly against our face,
Awaked the sleepy rheum, and so by chance
Did grace our hollow parting with a tear.
KING RICHARD II
What said our cousin when you parted with him? 10
DUKE OF AUMERLE
'Farewell:'
And for my heart disdained that my tongue
Should so profane the word, that taught me craft
To counterfeit oppression of such grief,
That words seem'd buried in my sorrow's grave. 15
Marry, would the word 'Farewell' have lengthen'd hours
And added years to his short banishment,
He should have had a volume of Farewells,
But since it would not, he had none of me.
KING RICHARD II
He is our Cousin, Cousin, but 'tis doubt, 20
When time shall call him home from banishment,
Whether our kinsman come to see his friends.
Ourself and Bushy, here Bagot and Green
Observed his Courtship to the common people:
How he did seem to dive into their hearts 25
With humble and familiar courtesy,
And patient under-bearing of his Fortune,
As ‘twere to banish their affects with him.
Off goes his bonnet to an Oyster-wench,
A brace of Dray-men bid God speed him well, 30
And had the tribute of his supple knee,
With thanks my Countrymen, my loving friends,
As were our England in reversion his,
And he our subjects' next degree in hope.
GREEN
Well, he is gone, and with him go these thoughts: 35
Now for the Rebels, which stand out in Ireland,
Expedient manage must be made, my Liege,
Ere further leisure yield them further means
For their advantage, and your highness' loss.
KING RICHARD II
We will ourself in person to this war, 40
And for our Coffers, with too great a Court
And liberal Largess, are grown somewhat light,
We are enforced to farm our royal Realm;
The revenue whereof shall furnish us
For our affairs in hand: if that come short, 45
Our Substitutes at home shall have Blank charters:
Whereto, when they shall know what men are rich,
They shall subscribe them for large sums of Gold
And send them after to supply our wants:
For we will make for Ireland presently.
Messenger delivers news to BUSHY
Bushy, what news?
BUSHY
Old John of Gaunt is grievous sick my Lord,
Suddenly taken, and hath sent post haste
To entreat your Majesty to visit him.
KING RICHARD II
Where lies he? 55
BUSHY
At Ely House.
KING RICHARD II
Now put it, God, in his Physician's mind
To help him to his grave immediately:
The lining of his coffers shall make Coats
To deck our soldiers for these Irish wars. 60
Come Gentlemen, let's all go visit him:
Pray God we may make haste, and come too late!
Exeunt
This scene originally took place in Richard's private dressing closet. Panels with the stained glass pattern on them separated the DSR corner of the stage, isolating it and creating a more intimate playing space. A rack of clothes set the location, filled with items pulled from stock and not used in the show. Rebecca Rankin, the costume designer, had worked with me on a previous show; she selected a few pieces with the right color palette from that show as "easter eggs" of our collaboration together.
Richard, Aumerle, Bushy, Bagot, and Green (whom we affectionately termed BBG) sipped champagne served by an attendant. Bushy and Green tried on the clothes that Richard picked out for them; Aumerle admired the clothes, but subtly refused to play dress-up. Eric and Kevin, playing Bushy and Green respectively, really embraced the foppery of these two favourites; Kevin particularly got interested in the duality of liking pretty clothes but also having served in war.
Bagot leaned against the wall getting progressively more drunk. It is fascinating to note that Bagot never speaks in this scene, though he is present. We chose to highlight that silence as part of his arc, which eventually leads to him jumping ship when Richard starts to fall.
The cast reimagined the scene as a text exchange between Richard and his favourites. Scroll through and enjoy Shakespeare with some clarifying emojis and gifs to convey what we lacked without the performance. (In true Richard fashion, his battery was almost dead. These are from Aumerle's perspective.)
Bushy, Bagot, and Green moved through a crowd of moving bodies, picking and choosing objects they desired as Ariana Grande's "7 Rings" played. This transition highlighted the power of Richard and his favourites at the expense of the average person.