‘Richard III’ @ Auriga Productions

—Ryan Maffei

Auriga Productions’ press materials for their Richard III lean into the production’s self-styled “controversy.” “Art should challenge comfort zones,” reads one quote from director Bert Pigg. “When audiences leave debating what they’ve seen, we know we’ve done something vital.”

Okay. The vagueness was a good tactic; I was on the edge of my seat weeks before one was empty for me. If whatever Auriga (in collaboration w/ L.I.P Service productions) was getting up to at the Bath House Cultural Center was pointed, incisive and deft, hell yeah; if it was wildly misguided, that still might be special. Pigg directed a Marat/Sade years ago that felt like an assault on the audience, and which I mostly loved. No matter what he had in store, I felt secure in anticipating it would be interesting.

But get this: I was wrong, at least on the “controversy” side of the proceedings—and my heightened expectations were a distraction as I watched what is overall a very fine production of Richard III. It’s just that the much-ballyhooed “controversy,” which Auriga has asked us not to discuss, simply…isn’t.  As Richard grasps for crown and power (in an unidentified authoritarian state where the compliant wear red stripes and black boots), he rolls out the merch: “MAKE ENGLAND GREAT!” hats (maybe DJT is so litigious the “AGAIN” was a word too far?) and at a pre-intermission climax, ooh swastikas—with the same slogan and an extra exclamation point.

This is a difficult time for the performing arts, what with grants being pulled and almost all creatives feeling othered one way or another. And the power structure feels agonizingly imbalanced all the way down, with promises broken and gatekeepers disappeared. Poke the wrong bear and, you know, your entire show could get canceled.

The swastika is an image still potent with hate – if you mean it. But repurposed like this it’s a bit banal. Ten years ago, this might’ve felt subversive, but as Pigg knows, the fascist won, and we’re weathering the back side of the storm.

If you really want to set some folks squirming in their seats, call out some specific bad guys – maybe a recent lightning rod or two or someone obstructing the release of etc etc. I bet you could really get some walkouts if you worked Netanyahu in – and you could. The fighting spirit and well-chosen target are appreciated. But another company just put on a much more visceral, unsettling, hard-hitting, provocative, “controversial” Macbeth a town over, and it didn’t nod directly to current events once, though one could feel them curling interestingly around the edges.

In short, Auriga’s Shakespearean bit thumb feels old hat, which is frightening (Is it all so “normalized” inside our numbed minds?), but also a reminder that the obvious choice isn’t always what makes for great theatre.

All that said, there is so much to appreciate here.

It's Shakespeare, for one thing, which means that the dialogue and plotting are top-notch, and there are lots of people in it (on Thursday night they outnumbered us), and in this case one of them is vickie washington. Another is Malcolm Stephenson – that this is a chance to see him play Richard III is more noteworthy than anything the play says about fascism (it’s bad). Stephenson’s king is timeless, beguiling in that “dignified rapscallion” way his grounded, complex villains have about them. The range he limps across is thrilling, whether coiled with rage or hilariously unctuous. But charming as his snake of a king is, I felt, at times, the ghosts of heights not quite scaled. Though it’s not a contest, washington’s few precious moments as Margaret are so captivating, so bold and alive with nuance, that they set an infrequently equaled standard.

washington’s reign is unthreatened even in her long absences from the play, but a great deal of worthy work surrounds Stephenson, who only in passages feels like he’s pulling the show all by himself (my kingdom for a…). Taylor Donnelson keeps her Anne at a low simmer, which in moments of deep ache or quiet rebellion is especially effective. I would’ve loved to see the reliably spirited Sara Rashelle’s variation; she performs the role for matinees.

Stately and wrenching, Adriana Bate coughs and bellows her way through a serviceably commanding King Edward IV, and Madyson Manning is excellent as Queen Elizabeth, lighting up nearly every scene she’s written into. Behind a beard that might take Rutherford B. Hayes’ breath away, Robert Banks does beautiful things as the doomed Clarence, rivaled laudably by Andrew Aguilar’s Buckingham, who skillfully fills in the emotional void left by our leading character. Grady Smithey III smartly plays Hastings as a laid-back fellow, and the lack of drama aids the greater effect.

Though the play is brisk, it can feel as spacious as the set, with a lot of time ceded to incidental characters. Some of these performances feel like missed chances to really light up that space. The trio of Adrian Theisen, Jamison Green and Spencer Gregory as Rivers, Dorset and Grey looks great and balances well. Yet though Thiesen and Green are brilliant talents, and Gregory, unfamiliar to me before, won me over with his bitchy dual turn as Prince Edward, none of the three characters is particularly well-defined. While Joshua Hahlen’s forceful Catesby and Mario Loredo’s opaque Lovell flank Richard stolidly, the oddly cheery Ratcliffe (Katie Otten) is the one who takes our focus. Jed Davis’ Brakenbury is so blank it becomes deeply eerie. And though we spend a lot of effort and time on business with the ingratiating J.C. Boliek and Brady Beckley, who play scruffy murderers, we are haunted by Felix Ferris’ charismatic Tyrrell, who in his brief time on stage lets us know he has a lot going on outside its margins. And I’ve not yet mentioned Byron Washington’s Stanley, who like Smithey’s Hastings avoids fireworks and thereby elevates the show; Nadine Deberardinis’ Prince Richard, a stirring tour-de-force in a few short moments; and Christian Taylor’s Duke of Richmond.

At his best, Taylor’s bracing character bristles with life; at others, he veers into Carey Elwes, wandering away from The Princess Bride set and into a different movie. Taylor was so good as Sir Andrew in Fair Assembly’s Twelfth Night, when his Richmond is really jazzed about his military gains, you realize this Richard hasn’t mined much of the play’s humor, not counting what actors have winkled out for themselves.

The real rock stars are the tech team, who manage a more challenging setup than it seems – pillars, projections – captained by stage manager Jessica Graham, who also cameos as a messenger, and ass’t stage manager Tanvi Khanduri, who designed the light-touch yet ominous lighting. Brian Christensen and Daniel Sandoval’s sound design is also a lot of judicious choices, and Jason Leyva’s set is juicy junkyard minimalism – broad strokes of metalwork here and here, a few structures to sit on or assemble around.

I admired the sparse, monochrome staging, across a Bath House space opened up a bit to breathe, and I enjoyed a strange but winning device from the tech team: silent-film-style interludes are projected for each death, with the actors in makeup that does every one of them bizarre favors. It;s a choice that cushions the blows in a way I found welcome after the Circle Mac Beth’s this-is-happening violence, poignant and funny at the same time. (Mac Beth’s onstage death was a particularly weird dose of both.)

Auriga artistic director Pigg must be hailed for his able blend of quietude and urgency, for strong blocking choices throughout, for coaxing little magic moments out of nearly every actor, and for standing firm on the right side of history. This is a more conventional Richard III than is being advertised, and not as organized in its message as might befit the moment—which is very left-wing, come to think of it.

But it’s a tight, often great Richard III—despite the somewhat worn “current affairs” sash tied around it. And this wonderful cast…it needs to be seen.

WHEN: October 30–November 16, 2025
WHERE: Bath House Cultural Center, 521 E. Lawther Dr., Dallas
WEB: aurigaproductionstickets