Richard II - Episode 5

Shakespeare's Shadows

featuring interviews with actors Len Cariou and Christopher Liam Moore
and University of California, Davis professor Frances Dolan

In episode 5, Richard II is in the spotlight — right where he likes to be. This is the diva king who loves to hear himself talk but doesn’t have many leadership skills beyond his talents as an orator. Shakespeare’s 1590s play about the king usurped 200 years prior raises compelling questions about the nature of leaders’ relationships with their subjects — questions that were near-dangerous in Elizabethan England but still relevant today. Discussing all this and more in this episode are UC Davis professor Frances Dolan, Oregon Shakespeare Festival actor Christopher Liam Moore, and Len Cariou (known for his current role on CBS series Blue Bloods and for originating the role of Sweeney Todd), who recalls how Richard II inspired him early in his theater career.