Richard III

This play brings to life one of Shakespeare's most dastardly villains - the monstrous, deformed, and diabolical King Richard III of England. Taking place during the Wars of the Roses, a roughly 30 year conflict between the Yorkist and Lancastrian claimants to the English throne, the play explores the tumultuous reign of the last Yorkist king of England.

But, as much as this is a story about manipulation and court intrigue, it also teaches us a valuable lesson - history is written by the winners. Modern historians tend to agree that Richard was not nearly as evil as he is portrayed by Shakespeare and the contemporary historians that inspired this work. Those histories, after all, were written by scholars under the House of Tudor, which took power after Richard's defeat in battle and would have every reason to villainize the last king of the house they had taken power from. Richard - depicted as a hunchback in this play - most likely had some form of scoliosis, though its severity is exaggerated here. Richard's most evil act in the play - the killing of the Princes in the Tower - is still a dark mystery to this day, though the play depicts it as definitively the act of the king. The list goes on.