Richard III can be seen in one of two ways: as the culmination of an epic cycle or as an isolated vehicle for a virtuoso star.
With Kenneth Branagh returning to the stage after a 10 year gap it is very much the latter in Michael Grandage's new production; and, while Branagh is magnificent in the play's first half, in the end he does not quite go the whole hog.
First seen stretched out half naked on what looks like a mix of torture machine and traction engine, Branagh's Richard assembles himself for public display; and what we see is Richard as the consummate actor.
To the audience, Branagh is a villainous compere who announces "the new delivered Hastings" as if he were bringing on a variety act: to his fellow characters, however, Branagh offers a mask of piety, pity or pugnacity as occasion demands.
So skilful is he at playing the double-Gloucester that when he offers the infant Duke of York his dagger "with all my heart" we roar with laughter at his hidden violence. This is a Richard who follows to the letter his intention to "seem a saint when most I play the devil."
For the first half, Branagh is truly magnetic: less the satanic joker of Olivier tradition than a masked Proteus. But, once Richard is crowned and has no need to play the hypocrite, one yearns for a touch of genuine diabolism.
Branagh has moments of genuine power as when he turns the coldest of shoulders in Buckingham with an icy "Tut, tut." But where Olivier chilled the blood on "Is the chair empty? Is the throne unswayed" Branagh gets a laugh; and, if the intention is to reveal Richard's ultimate hollowness, then he needs to deliver his self-exploratory eve of battle soliloquy with more deliberation.
It remains a very good performance, with echoes of Branagh's screen Iago, rather than a great one.
And the same may be said for Grandage's production which is clearly and fluently staged in the style of his Crucible Edward II. Like that, it is superbly lit by Tim Mitchell who creates astonishing images through diagonal lighting or fierce overhead wattage. And Christopher Oram's design with its massy background pillars clears a space for the central action.
Even if the mixed-period costumes have a monochrome drabness, there are still some colourful supporting performances. Barbara Jefford as Queen Margaret is white-haired, baleful and beautifully spoken. Danny Webb's Buckingham is a sharp-witted sidekick finally exposed as a cringing wreck.
And Claire Price's Lady Anne and Phyllis Logan's Queen Elizabeth effectively show their initial revulsion at Richard turning to sexual fascination.
But the star is Branagh and, even if his performance is not exactly a turning point in the play's long history, it shows why we need him back on the British stage.
· Until April 10. Box office: 0114-249 6000.
