Interview: Guillermo Cienfuegos And Ann Noble of RICHARD III at A Noise Within

Guillermo Cienfuegos returns to A Noise Within to direct a streamlined, high-velocity, darkly entertaining take on William Shakespeare‘s Richard III, re-set in 1970s Britain. Starring Ann Noble as the irresistible schemer audiences love to hate, the production runs February 14 through March 8 at the company’s home in Pasadena. Low-priced previews began February 8.

Ann Noble as Richard III

Charismatic and contemptible in equal measure, burdened by physical challenges and consumed by ambition, Richard claws his way to the crown with unrelenting ferocity, removing all obstacles, and all people, in his path. Manipulating, marrying and murdering his way to the top with unmatched charm and zeal, Richard turns the audience into his unwitting accomplice: we root for him even as his plans grow ever more monstrous.

I decided to speak with Guillermo Cienfuegos and Ann Noble about their vision for the production.

Guillermo Cienfuegos. Photo courtesy of the artist.

Guillermo, you describe this Richard III as “the original Game of Thrones.” What about Shakespeare’s play feels especially urgent or recognizable to audiences today?

Well, unfortunately the story of ambitious men ruthlessly pursuing power and not caring about all the death and destruction they leave in their wake continues to be a familiar one. Even 430 years later. We see it today all over the globe and dangerously close to home. I think this is a gripping, exciting and entertaining yarn — but also a story with relevance that I believe will reverberate with audiences.

Why did you choose to set the production in 1970s Britain, and how does that era sharpen the story’s themes of power, ambition, and moral decay?

I wanted the setting to feel more familiar than the original one 500 years ago. But I didn’t want it to be so updated and current that we’d be saddled with things like cell phones and social media and the 24-hour news cycle. Contemporary but not too contemporary. Setting it 50 years in the past seemed to make sense - we could create an alternate universe where there is no British Parliament, the monarchy still rules and the risk of falling into a personality cult style authoritarianism - like what happened with so many other European countries such as Romania, Portugal and Spain - seemed very possible. I was also excited about using ’70s fashion and music styles as part of this world, which my longtime Costume Designer Christine Cover Ferro and sound designer Chris Moscatiello happily ran with.

Ann Noble as Richard III

Why did you make the decision to cast Ann Noble in the title role?

I’d love to take credit for it and come off like a genius, but I feel like the decision was made for me; I did ask her to come in and read, but I went into casting with a very different vision for the role. However, when Ann walked in and started playing, it was overwhelmingly obvious that this was Richard. Not casting her would’ve been director malpractice.

You’ve promised a “high-velocity” and cinematic approach. How do you translate influences like Scorsese or Tarantino onto the stage?

Good question - I ask myself the same thing! I enjoy trying and experimenting with the use of cinematic editing ideas in the theatre. The challenge of how to make things like smash cuts and cross fades and sound pre laps and even shifted angles of perspective and coverage translate effectively to the stage. I think it’s a visual vocabulary people have so ingrained now that when it works, it’s very exciting. With this bloody and relentless play, I found a lot of inspiration from the pace and attack of films like GoodFellas and Inglorious Basterds and Kill Bill - particularly in the use of music to underline and fuel the propulsive energy. I wish we had the budget to pay for all the great pop and rock music needle drops that those directors use so fabulously - but we do our best.

The Richard III ensemble 

Richard famously turns the audience into his accomplices. What directorial choices help strengthen that unsettling relationship between actor and audience?

I think that relationship is the most significant one Richard has in the play. Ann and I just worked to get very specific with it - so that it’s not just “the audience” but a person or collection of people that Richard needs, is invested with and wants to confide all his evil machinations with. What’s the point of doing all these brilliant moves if I can’t tell somebody about them and get credit? It’s an amazing thing Shakespeare has done here, to have his main character be a villain who delights in sharing his villainy. It’s so fun. We hope the audience loves Richard - right up to the point where they can’t anymore.

Ann Noble and Tony Pasqualini

You’ve included a brief recap at the top of the show. How does that structural decision change the way people experience Shakespeare’s language and plot?

Despite being a delicious and fun melodrama, Richard III is also one of Shakespeare’s histories. There’s a lot of story, and many relationships that are referred to in this play that have their genesis in other plays, mainly the three parts of Henry VI. Who is Margaret? Who was Richard’s father, the Duke of York? What was the War of the Roses? I think it’s important not only to hear about the impact of these earlier events but to see them. All the violence and resentment and bloodshed that created these people and the brutal world they live in. So we take you through a lightning-fast retelling of pertinent moments from the history of these people fighting for, winning and losing the crown. From Richard II to Henry IV Parts 1 & 2 to Henry V to the Henry VI cycle to the present.

The Richard III ensemble

And now for you, Ann. Richard is “charismatic and contemptible in equal measure.” How do you balance his monstrous actions with the charm that makes audiences root for him?

I don’t necessarily think of it as a “balancing” maneuver, and I don’t know that audiences need to “root” for him. I think that the audience needs to be interested in what’s going to happen as a result of Richard’s actions. I’ve noticed that Shakespeare is much more interested in consequences than in causes, and there’s something very human about that. We’re anxious to see what the outcome of actions will be; it’s much trickier to assess what actually caused them to happen. So, in some ways, I’m “trusting” Shakespeare here, and inviting in the audience’s curiosity to do a lot of the heavy lifting for me.]

Ann Noble as Richard III

I also think that we, as humans, get blindsided by people we are attracted to. And we’re attracted to “clever.” We like people who can figure things out, who know more than others, and who can navigate power structures. In some strange way, Richard is, technically, an “underdog.” And we really like underdogs. So, I guess what I’m saying here, is that Shakespeare has really laid the groundwork for me, as the actor.

Samuel Garnett, Ann Noble and Ensemble

That being said, Guillermo and I have spent a lot of time on making sure that Richard’s relationship with the audience is paramount. The way I see them, and which parts of me I let them see, are vital. So that is definitely something that we are continuing to play with, to find the best dynamics that will allow the audience to “take the ride.”

What excites you most about portraying one of Shakespeare’s most iconic villains - especially in this reimagined 1970s setting?

I have been working on this play extensively since college, so for a long time… Obviously, I worked on Lady Anne, Margaret, Elizabeth; and I’ve directed others in various scenes, and I’ve always hoped that some day I would get to be in a full production…but to get the opportunity to actually play Richard? Well, it is really a dream come true.

Ann Noble and Erika Soto

Of course, I don’t think of him as a “villain.” But he is “iconic.” And, I guess what that means to me, is that there is breadth to the character of Richard. With these kinds of characters, there’s just so much room to play. And there really isn’t any way to copy anyone that has gone before. The part is just so massive and demands so much, that even if you see an interpretation from Olivier (or from Holm, or from Sher, or from McKellan), for example, of a particular moment or line that you want to steal…you will never be able to NOT include your own unique self in the foundation of the character. There are just too many “nooks and crannies” to Richard (and other roles like this) to explore. And, I guess, that’s what excites me most, and has continued to, throughout this process: just when I think I’ve “got” something, there’s another, deeper level.

It’s also just great to play someone who, basically, has a clever retort for everything that’s said to him. Oh, to have that verbal acuity in real life! Also, I’m really enjoying living in a person who just does not give up. Richard is not a quitter. And that continued ability to simply endure…that is impressive.

The Ensemble

With regards to setting the play in the 1970s in England, well, the costumes are wonderful, you gotta love a three-piece suit; but I also really love the time-period. I’m a complete Anglophile, and there’s something about setting Shakespeare’s history plays IN England, that really plays, and plays for this play, in particular. The way the upper-class Brits were dealing with the lower-class rebellions (including the punk movement) fits quite nicely into Richard’s exploitation of the uncertainty that those clashes posed to the “ruling elites.”

Richard frequently breaks the fourth wall and confides in the audience. How do you approach that intimate, conspiratorial relationship from the stage?

Well, as I mentioned above, this relationship is vital; what we have been working on extensively is the dance between speaking to the audience as a group and also, singling out individual audience members. Richard must remain unpredictable, that’s part of his nature, and so, keeping the audience “on their toes” is very much a part of our production. It can be tricky to do this, as you never know who’s going to be sitting where. You never know who is going to be happy about being “talked to” and who is going to hate it. But that is part of the fun, and part of Richard’s boldness.

Ann Noble as Richard III

I think what’s most important is that the relationship is genuine; and that it must be something that Richard wants to do, maybe even needs to do. It should have a sense of two mates chatting over coffee…until one of those mates doesn’t really want to be a “mate” anymore. And, of course, it’s critical that Richard is talking TO the audience and not AT them. No one likes that!

The play is often described as darkly comic. Where do you find the humor in Richard, and how does comedy deepen the character rather than soften him?

For me, the best comedy is always a combination of bravery and quickness. Someone who always has a witty come-back and can turn words and phrases back on themselves for effect is just delicious. And, I find, always surprising. Also, being bold enough to say the thing that maybe shouldn’t be said, but everyone is thinking…well, that is very much Richard.

Now, obviously, we’re leaning into the text here, as Shakespeare has created a very funny character in some very tense and absurd situations; but I’m finding that this is also a function of playing with this ensemble. Comedy does not happen in a void. And it really is a combination of all these different characters coming into conflict with each other, seeing how each one tries to get a hold of what’s happening and alternatively succeeding and then failing…well, those peaks and valleys, those extremes between what I think is going to happen and what actually happens there really is some juicy comedy going on there.

(L-R) Dominick Jaramillo, Alex Neher, Sean Umeda, Lesley Fera, Vic Crusaos

But it does take a village. I am blessed with being able to play this role amongst an absolutely stellar cast. Again, this is something that Guillermo does so well, is to put together an “orchestra” of actors, so that all the different voices create both harmony and cacophony. And this is a passionate bunch. All these actors work with the fervor that their characters attack their scenes, which really helps to make the comic moments snap rather than diffuse. The comedy then is a part of the complexity of these people not merely their “lighter side,” which, in my humble opinion, always makes for a better story.

As a woman stepping into this traditionally male role, what new dimensions or discoveries have emerged in your understanding of Richard’s ambition and rage?

Well, just as a plain old human, I have plenty of rage and ambition, so, at first, I didn’t really think there would be a difference, per se. Men get angry, women get angry. The same goes for ambition. However, once I started to really “sit” in Richard, I noticed that there was a freedom to these aspects of his character. Even though I grew up extremely fortunate in that I was never told that I couldn’t do something BECAUSE I was born female and my gender expression is female; I was still always “instructed” to be a “lady.” There were certain societal pressures that were placed on me in terms of my behavior with regards to my relationships and dealings with men.

Ann Noble as Richard III

So I, like many others who find themselves not at the top of the food chain, have had to find ways to get my needs met that are not “direct.” So, it’s been really enlightening to just be a “man.” To just get angry. To just ask for what I want. Now, of course, Richard is playing lots of games and pretending he wants things he doesn’t and vice versa, however, there is sort of a “direct route” to his anger and his ambition that I was rather surprised to find I did not so freely possess. I don’t think this necessarily applies as a general rule; I am loathe to say “men are this way” or “women are that way,” but I think there is always something that one can learn about themselves and the way they move through the world when one really takes note of how a different human being walks through their world. As actors we are so lucky to be able to really get to walk in those shoes, even if it is just for a few months.

Ann Noble and Neill Fleming

For both of you. Has working together on other productions created a stronger understanding of how to work together on this iconic play?

Guillermo: Yeah, there’s a shorthand. And also a shared sensibility, particularly about Shakespeare and this play especially. She immediately got on board with the concept I brought and I completely bought into her Richard and shaped the show around her.

Ann: Absolutely. Our previous work on Rogue Machine’s “Disposable Necessities” laid some wonderful groundwork for us, in terms of navigating the actor/director relationship. We have a shorthand with and a respect for each other’s artistry that just makes everything easier. That being said, this play is a such a “monster” that it’s stretching us both in ways I think neither of us expected. Also, we’re both different people now. We’ve both grown in our abilities and experience over these several years since the last time we worked together.

Ann Noble

Ultimately, though, at least for me, the real gift is being able to trust your director. As an actor you have to get so vulnerable and you have to be willing to look silly and try and fail, and it’s an honor and a privilege to be able to be with Guillermo on this very challenging, wild ride. I can be myself with him, and also let him be himself, as we build this extraordinary thing together.

What do you hope audiences will be talking about as they leave the theater?

Guillermo: I hope they’ll be talking about how much fun they had, how extraordinary Ann Noble is - and how grateful they are that they don’t live in this world. Yet.

Alex Neher, Randolph Thompson, and Wesley Guimarães.

Is there anything else either of you would like to add about the production?

Guillermo: I’m very proud to be the artistic director of Rogue Machine Theatre in Hollywood and deeply committed to our mission of producing new plays and plays new to Los Angeles. So I’m grateful to Julia Rodriguez-Elliott and Geoff Elliott, the artistic directors of A Noise Within, who allow me the opportunity to also direct great classic works like this one.

Ann: Hang on to your hats!

Thanks so much! I am really looking forward to being in the audience!

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