A toast by Lady Anne

A toast by Lady Ann

This vignette comprises only two scenes from Richard III. She has deliberately, out of shame, kept a low profile. But here she breaks her silence and attempts to explain how it came to pass that she was seduced by her husband's murderer.. culminating in marriage.

Lady Anne finally lays the story out.  How a monster was able to charm away innocence. She raises her glass to toast the despicable man and warns all women for their weak point, beyond shame.

The Impromptus

‘A toast by Lady Anne’ is part of the Impromptus and comprises a series of new short monologues by Annemarie de Bruijn (het Vijfde Bedrijf) especially commissioned for The Hague Shakespeare Festival (november 19th - december 1st 2013).

Following on in the vein of her successful solo performance “Lady M”, these performances reveal the untold story in Shakespeare, it is about what goes unsaid.

Drawing on familiar works Hamlet, Richard lll, King Lear, Othello and sonnet 'A Lover's Complaint” stories and text are interwoven both in the flesh and via film.

Lady Anne (Richard lll) and Albany (King Lear) both independently speak out to raise a glass to their wretched spouses. In Lost in Denmark Annemarie, like a Danish detective, takes you along in her search for Hamlet.  And via the audiovisual installation Sorrow in Silence, we witness the silent tears of a mother (Richard lll), tears of a good friend (Othello) and a girl blinded by love (A Lover's Complaint).

The blending of these voices, form a cacophony which provides a continuous back drop to the main text.