Voices Found Sets Shakespeare in the 20th Century

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Voices Found Repertory 'Richard II'

Voices Found Repertory 'Richard II'

As the drama begins, a man is a prince is preparing to ascend to the throne. In his eyes it’s an ascension to godhood. There’s a feeling of death about him as he rises. By the time he’s king, he’s DOA, already a corpse on a throne. The rest is a great deal of fun as Kyle Conner plays a doomed monarch in Richard II. Shakespeare’s classic is brought to the intimate confines of Inspiration Studios by Voices Found Repertory. Director Hannah Kubiak sets the two-hour production in the look and feel of the 1920s with some surprisingly immersive elements by set designer Marion Frank and costume designers Kubiak and Brittany Haut. Haut also amplifies intensity around the edges of the drama in the role of the doomed king’s yes-man Bushy.

Stefan Kent has a strong stage presence in quiet moments as Bolingbroke, who the king banishes at the outset of the drama. Kent’s heroic presence serves as a contrast against Conner’s villainy. Scott Oehme Sorenson backs him up impressively as Northumberland. Jessica Trznadel also makes an impression in a procession of roles. As the villain Mowbray, she’s roguishly charismatic. She’s conflicted and nuanced in the role of the king’s cousin Aumerle. She’s a dark uncertainty in the role of the nobleman Lord Ross.

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Photo: Voices Found Repertory

Voices Found Repertory 'Richard II'

Voices Found Repertory 'Richard II'

Kubiak’s Jazz Age Shakespeare feels slyly stylish. Music of the era plays whimsically in the background as the political drama unfolds. The drama’s two hours on the stage firmly establish a world that remains strangely familiar to modern eyes as political dramas unfold elsewhere. Shakespeare’s histories can feel a bit lost on the stage if not committed to with the right passions. Kubiak has fostered the right conditions to conjure an engrossing drama.

Voices Found Repertory’s production of Richard II continues through Sept. 3 at Inspiration Studios on 1500 S. 73rd St.