BBC Radio play 1986

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY: Anthony Minghella [who ten years later directed Colin Firth in film The English Patient]

CAST: Colin Firth as Richard II, King of England [1367-1400]

ABOUT THE PLAY: It's late May in the year 1392. The action of the play passes in and around the streets and houses of York - among them the Peagant House where they are making the preparations for the Passion Play, and the Mayor's house and garden where King Richard and his beloved Queen Anne is presently staying. Richard has "escaped" the intrigues of the London Court and worries because Anne is not well. During their stay, their trusted friend, the Earl of Oxford, visits.

Despite their personal and national problems the three friends - Richard, Anne and Oxford - keep up a wonderfully funny, toung-in-cheek dialogue. Colin Firth must have had a field day, portraying the complex Richard II, his worries for his country, his tender love and care for his dying queen, his honest friendship with Oxford, his straigt forward interaction with the villagers of York.

Richard II was only 10 years old when he became king of England. During Richard's minority England was ruled by his uncles, especially the Duke of Glouchester.

The young king seems to have been fond of pomp and splendour, and he had a reputation as a dilettente. But he was also courageous. At 14 he faced a murderous crowd during the great peasant's rebellion and convinced them to disperse. When Richard was 20 years old he attempted to assert himself, but an armed conflict ensued and Richard was nearly forced from the throne.

He successfully began to rule at the age of 22 and it seems he governed well. His reign was noted for his empahsis on peace. He concluded truce in Ireland 1394, and in the "Hundred Years War" against France in 1396. Three years later, another rupture between the king and Glouchester resulted in the duke's imprisonment and death.

The play was first presented on stage at the Northcott Theatre, Exeter 1983. The following year it was revised and presented at the Greenwich Theatre.