Richard III by Schaubühne Berlin

Richard III is one of Shakespeare’s earliest and most significant works. This year, celebrated actor Lars Eidinger brings the drama to the China Shanghai International Arts Festival. Continuing the expressive style seen in his acclaimed Hamlet, Eidinger delivers a powerful two-and-a-half-hour performance marked by emotional intensity and unrelenting energy. The play not only presents a sinister, sociopathic antihero in Richard III but also lays bare a ruling class torn apart by internal strife. With his hunched back and braces, Richard III mocks both himself and others with ruthless wit. In a striking climax, he dies hanging—naked—on stage, leaving behind a searing social metaphor and a space for profound reflection.