Richard II
Closing: December 21, 2025Richard II - 2025 Off-Broadway History , Info & More
Astor Place Theatre
434 Layfayette St. New York, NY
Ambition and betrayal reign supreme in this electrifying reimagining of Shakespeare’s poetic masterpiece. Set in 1980s Manhattan, the neon skyline and shadowy backrooms become an epic battleground of identity and power, where a king’s divine right crumbles beneath the weight of human frailty. Craig Baldwin’s inventive adaptation makes Richard’s tragic descent freshly immediate, staged a stone’s throw from the site of the historic Astor Place Riots, the original American cocktail of politics, insurrection, and Shakespeare.
Richard II - 2025 - Off-Broadway Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR Richard II
'Richard II' Off-Broadway review — Michael Urie captivates as Shakespeare’s boy king
8 / 10
Urie brilliantly embodies Shakespeare’s King Richard, infusing him with just enough whimsy and vulnerability to make this manchild pitiable. Pitted against his revolutionary cousin Henry Bolingbroke (an austere Grantham Coleman), Richard may not be in the right, but he sure is fun to root for.
Richard II
7 / 10
Herein lies the production's greatest strength, Richard's clinging to the belief that the throne is his by divine right, and that whatever has befallen him is an affront to God as much as to his royal self, a nepo baby of his time. There is a certain amount of youthful petulance in his actions, befitting the situation since, in actuality, Richard was 10 years old when he ascended to the throne and was barely 30 when he died. But Urie also finds ways to signal a sense of irony and cynicism into the portrayal, which, perhaps, is the most successfully modern interpolation into Shakespeare's seldom-produced history play. Makes me wonder what the actor could do with the role of prodigal son Prince Hal in the ensuing Henriad plays.
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Richard II History
Other Productions of Richard II
| 2025 | West End |
West End |
| 2025 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
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