Has there ever been a more contested Richard III? Michelle Terry’s self-casting as Shakespeare’s “rudely stamp’d” king has led to an explosion of anger, with charges against the Globe’s artistic director of “cripping up” and taking opportunity away from disabled actors who might more authentically play the part of the would-be king.
There is a legitimate conversation to be had on whether actors should be free to play any characters, irrespective of identity, or if that abstracted ideal is disingenuous in the face of real-world inequalities. But it is irrelevant here because Terry’s Richard is not rudely stamp’d at all, though he is determinately villainous.
