Richard III

In the summer of 1979, I was blessed to return to the Wisconsin Shakespeare Company. The school year of 1978-1979 was not a pretty one for me. I had gotten some really ugly glasses (but really in style then), and had gotten braces. Let’s face it; 6^th grade is not a pretty time for almost anybody.

Something that is very interesting about theater is that every year, things are different. Very different. Now, I was a year older, but the stage seemed like it was a lot more serious place. The woman that we had spent so much time with did not come back (she had gotten a short stint on ‘The Guiding Light’ soap opera), and Mark and I missed her. Michael Duncan did come back, and was in the lead role of Richard III, the historical play they were producing that year.

I was cast as the Prince of Wales, and had a much more calm, dignified role, and David Burgett got the more fun role as my younger brother (even though he was a year old than me in real life). David was just a better actor than I was. I do wonder what happened to him. Any of you out there know?

Even though it felt like a more serious stage, I enjoyed the play immensely. Watching Michael bury himself in one of Shakespeare’s strongest villains was quite enjoyable. In retrospect, I learned a lot about the acting craft that summer.

Even though I love Shakespeare, I was beginning to get a bit concerned about being in his plays. By my 7^th grade year, I had been in two plays, and my character had been killed in both of them. As the son of MacDuff, I was stabbed, and as the Prince of Wales, I was smothered with a pillow and buried in the Tower of London. I was beginning to wonder if Shakespeare had something against me…