Richard III on the Israeli Stage: A Play's Journey to Local Relevance

ABSTRACT: This article explores the varied representation of Richard III on the Israeli stage, tracing its productions—from the first in 1966 through the most recent, which premiered in September 2023. Focusing on the interplay between Shakespeare's depiction of tyranny and Israel's political climate, it examines how local productions have adapted the play's central figure—an archetypal tyrant—to reflect shifting attitudes toward leadership, morality, and power. Through an analysis of the six major Israeli stagings—each marked by distinct aesthetic, political, and interpretative choices—as well as their media coverage (including reviews and interviews with actors and directors), the article demonstrates how the character of Richard has absorbed contemporary views on tyranny, democracy, and national identity. The trajectory it maps reveals how Richard's authoritarianism, initially associated with Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia, comes to be explicitly linked with the Israeli government in the play's most recent production, directed by Itay Tiran at the Gesher Theater amidst the 2023 judicial overhaul protests.