Ricardo III (Módena, 2014)

Ricardo III

Gustavo Gasparani and Sergio Módena adapted William Shakespeare’s Richard III into a one man show with Gasparani playing 26 different characters. The text was reworked into a script that introduces a Narrator who conducts the plot and resorts to omissions, additions and interpolations. There are no changes in terms of time or setting. Simplicity sets the tone of the production; set and costume design elements are reduced to a minimum, to stimulate the audience’s imagination. The resources employed aimed at adding a touch of humor and lightness to the story, as well as resonating with the reality and the collective imagination of Brazilian audiences.

For his performance in Ricardo III, Gustavo Gasparani was nominated best actor in several awards such as Cesgranrio (2014), Shell (2014), APTR (2014); he won best actor in APCA Awards, in São Paulo (2015), and in the theatre international Festival In Angra (FITA 2014); he was also nominated for Best Actor of 2014, in four different awards – Shell, APTR, Aplauso Brasil and Cesgranrio; the production was nominated as best production of 2014 in the CEMIG Award and Best Director of 2014 for the FITA Award.

Gasparani is no stranger to Shakespeare’s plays. In 2006, he adapted Othello into the musical, Otelo da Mangueira, which transported the audience to a hilltop favela with drug dealers, violence and the samba schools in the 1940s. He also wrote the musical production Romeu & Julieta ao Som de Marisa Monte (Romeo & Juliet played to the music of Marisa Monte) (2018), recipient of many critical awards; for 2020, he is working on a production of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

Credits

Author: William Shakespeare

Adaptation: Gustavo Gasparani and Sergio Módena

Verse translation: Anna Amélia Carneiro de Mendonça

Director: Sergio Módena

Actor: Gustavo Gasparani

Drama consultant: Liana Leão

Original Music and Sound Effects: Marcelo Alonso Neves

Movement Direction: Marcia Rubin

Scenic Designer: Aurora dos Campos

Costumes: Marcelo Olinto

Lighting: Tomás Ribas

Photography: Nil Caniné

Sound operation: Luiz Fernando Lopes

Light operation: Thiago Monte

Production:
Camila Martins Ribeiro and Marcelo Cabanas | Bateia Cultura
Coisas Nossas Produções Artísticas

Performances

In Rio de Janeiro:

Espaço SESC Copacabana (2014) – Premiere

Teatro Maria Clara Machado (2014)

Teatro Poeirinha (2014)

SESI Cultural of Estado do Rio de Janeiro (2015)

Fomento Cultural da SMC (2015)

Teatro Dulcina (25 and 26 August 2015)

Galpão Gamboa (2015)

Cidade das Artes (2015)

Teatro do TCE (2015)

Teatro Cesgranrio (2019)

In Sao Paulo:

SESC Pinheiros (2015)

Teatro Sérgio Cardoso (2015)

Many festivals throughout Brazil, including:

Festival de Curitiba (2014)

Festival de Inverno do SESC (2014)

Festival Internacional de Teatro de Angra (FITA 2014)

Mostra Garandella Cultural em BH (2014)

Porto Alegre em Cena (2015)

Cena Contemporânea em Brasília (2015)

Articles

MARTINS, Marcia do Amaral Peixoto; LEÃO, Liana de Camargo. O Ricardo III de Gasparani e Módena: um solo de múltiplas vozes. Scripta Uniandrade, v. 15, n. 2 (2017), p. 88-104. Web 21 Oct. 2017

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to present and discuss a recent (2014) stage adaptation of Shakepeare’s Richard III, in which a single actor gives life to 26 different characters. The text was reworked into a script that introduces a Narrator who conducts the plot and resorts to omissions, additions and interpolations. There are, however, no changes in terms of time or setting. Simplicity sets the tone of the production; set and costume design elements are reduced to a minimum, to stimulate the audience’s imagination and creativity. The resources employed aimed at adding a touch of humour and lightness to the story, as well as resonating with the reality (and the collective imagination) of Brazilian audiences.

Link to the article: https://uniandrade.br/revistauniandrade/index.php/ScriptaUniandrade/article/view/771/655

(Production notes provided by Liana Leão)