2's Got Your Ticket: Richard III
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A powerhouse production of Richard III features a bold performance by the actress playing Richard and marks the directorial debut of the theater's new artistic director.
It's taking the stage at Chicago Shakespeare Theater.
Katy Sullivan is the first actress who is an amputee to star on Broadway earning a Tony nomination in the process.
Sullivan is also a Paralympic track and field athlete and record holder.
Director Edward Hall is also the new artistic director at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. His varied career includes notable Shakespeare productions on London's West End as well as film and television.
Those productions include "Blithe Spirit" with Dame Judy Dench and the season four finale of "Downton Abbey."
What led Hall to choose "Richard III" for his directorial debut at Chicago Shakespeare Theater?
"When I was working with Katy Sullivan in 2019 in "The Cost of Living" in London, I realized after a couple of weeks of rehearsals, I found the Richard III I must do play with, this incredible woman," Hall said, who added that it happened long before he knew he was going to be the company's artistic director.
What motivated Hall to cast Sullivan?
"First of all, it's her skill as an actress. She has such technical ability. She has the ability to feel things so deeply. She has such great taste. She has enormous wit," Hall said. "To play 'Richard III' I think you need to understand two things. You need to understand how painful it is for him to move through the world as the man he is. And you need to understand where he gets his sarcasm and his irony from."
Hall said Sullivan has both those things "in bucketloads" adding that it was slamdunk to have her in the production.
Politics, power, and conflict come together in "Richard III" now playing at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater through March 3.