Defenders of Richard III Furious at Plan to Stage Shakespeare's Richard III Next to His Grave
In DepthHere’s a good fight between two very old fandoms, forever at odds: A cathedral in England plans to allow a touring company to perform the Shakespeare play Richard III under its holy roof. However, the play is rather harsh to the historical Richard III, whose mortal remains currently rest inspire the church, and his defenders are FURIOUS at this “humiliating” treatment.
That’s according to the Guardian. Historian and screenwriter Philippa Langley, who spearheaded the project which finally found the monarch’s long-missing body, is leading the charge once again. She wants the performance moved and “no future performances of any play or film that might be considered derisive or humiliating to the memory of the king be contemplated where, it is important to remember, the man himself now lies.” The play does portray Richard III, who died in 1485, as a very bad man and a “poisonous bunch-back’d toad”.