Glorious farewell

Michael Grandage says farewell to the Donmar with a farewell play. Richard II tells of a glorious but profligate king compelled to hand over his realm to a workmanlike, Steady Eddie successor. Entirely devoid of romantic interest, and with only teeny-weeny roles for women, this is not a show-stopping Shakespeare favourite. It appeals to specialists who note that it marks the Bard’s transition from medieval thriller-writer to dramatic philosopher. Grandage rises to this level and puts on a production that will satisfy the most ardent purist.

Richard Kent’s ecclesiastical set is ravishing. The clever split-level arrangement of arches and tracery creates a versatile warren of spaces that are entirely practical but also fully evocative of religious awe. The building materials, prudently indistinct, suggest mildewed stone, rotting oak and blasted gilding all at once. David Plater’s sepia lighting design is a beautiful piece of melancholy elegance. An air of diseased majesty and corrupted faith infuses the production from the first moment when Richard, swathed in vanity, receives the kneeling homage of each courtier in turn.