richard2nixon
a one-act play
King Richard II and President Richard Nixon had to face the very same problems after
coming to power. Both of them were weak and had limited financial resources.
Each of them had strong opposition, and inherited a war from
the previous leader that could not be put to an end.
This is why they ventured into semi-legal machinations to reassert their
positions—partly with the help of, but partly against their powerful mentors:
John of Gaunt and Henry Kissinger. But their manoeuvres did not work out well, and the two leaders were
unable to cover up the ensuing scandals that ultimately led to their abdication and
resignation—which happened for the first time in the history of England and the
United States.
The play presents the two stories from beginning to end in a parallel fashion, with the characters belonging both to King Richard's fourteenth and to Nixon's twentieth century. The script makes use of a paraphrased version of Shakespeare's King Richard II, as well as of various speeches, records and the Watergate-tapes from Nixon's time so that the unfolding political thriller may offer an inside view of the timeless intrigues of those in and around power.
Running time: 110 minutes.
The play presents the two stories from beginning to end in a parallel fashion, with the characters belonging both to King Richard's fourteenth and to Nixon's twentieth century. The script makes use of a paraphrased version of Shakespeare's King Richard II, as well as of various speeches, records and the Watergate-tapes from Nixon's time so that the unfolding political thriller may offer an inside view of the timeless intrigues of those in and around power.
Running time: 110 minutes.
Characters
King Richard II / Richard M Nixon
John Gaunt / Henry A Kissinger
Northumberland / the Democratic party
Henry Bolingbroke / Gerald Ford
Councillor / John, the White House staff
Isabella, the imported Queen / First Lady
Robert de Vere
Thomas Mowbray
Aumerle
The roles of DE VERE, MOWBRAY and AUMERLE can be played by one actor. The roles of GAUNT, NORTHUMBERLAND and JOHN can be played by either men or women.
Excerpts
NORTHUMBERLAND:
Black label, white cap, little switch on the side, long wire coming out of the base?
MOWBRAY:
Yes, yes, yes. How do you know?
NORTHUMBERLAND:
They're bugs, you moron. Basic CIA equipment.
MOWBRAY:
Oh.
NORTHUMBERLAND:
Get out of the Watergate.
Black label, white cap, little switch on the side, long wire coming out of the base?
MOWBRAY:
Yes, yes, yes. How do you know?
NORTHUMBERLAND:
They're bugs, you moron. Basic CIA equipment.
MOWBRAY:
Oh.
NORTHUMBERLAND:
Get out of the Watergate.
RICHARD:
Draw near, draw near, the duel has not begun,
Come list what with the council we have done.
For that our kingdom's earth should not be soiled
With that dear sacred blood for which it toiled,
And for our eyes have constantly abhorred
All civil wounds ploughed up with neighbours' sword,
And for it's your own sky-aspiring pride
That makes you act in ways unjustified
And wake our peace on this disastrous day
With harsh resounding trumpets' dreadful bray;
And for fair peace in England's peaceful lap
Still draws his infant breath of gentle nap,
And for the clash of wrathful iron arms
Scares it away from Britain's verdant farms,
And we, without it, dwelling in the mud,
Will even wade in our dear kindred's blood;
For all these and for reasons more than these,
The council's banished you our territ'ries.
Good Bolingbroke, you, upon pain of life,
Till summers pass, in number five and five,
And twice five springs revive the frozen sand,
You shall not set –
ISABELLA:
– your foot on English land.
RICHARD:
For Mowbray, you, remains a heavier doom,
Your exile's border-stone shall be your tomb;
Your hours will be made years by sluggish clocks;
You shan't return –
ISABELLA:
– unless you're in a box.
Draw near, draw near, the duel has not begun,
Come list what with the council we have done.
For that our kingdom's earth should not be soiled
With that dear sacred blood for which it toiled,
And for our eyes have constantly abhorred
All civil wounds ploughed up with neighbours' sword,
And for it's your own sky-aspiring pride
That makes you act in ways unjustified
And wake our peace on this disastrous day
With harsh resounding trumpets' dreadful bray;
And for fair peace in England's peaceful lap
Still draws his infant breath of gentle nap,
And for the clash of wrathful iron arms
Scares it away from Britain's verdant farms,
And we, without it, dwelling in the mud,
Will even wade in our dear kindred's blood;
For all these and for reasons more than these,
The council's banished you our territ'ries.
Good Bolingbroke, you, upon pain of life,
Till summers pass, in number five and five,
And twice five springs revive the frozen sand,
You shall not set –
ISABELLA:
– your foot on English land.
RICHARD:
For Mowbray, you, remains a heavier doom,
Your exile's border-stone shall be your tomb;
Your hours will be made years by sluggish clocks;
You shan't return –
ISABELLA:
– unless you're in a box.
The Hungarian version of the play—on which the English version is based—was first performed in Budapest, Hungary, in 2005.
Production photos of the Hungarian version:
