The Drew Theatre department celebrated its inaugural joint production with the Shakespeare Theatre on campus the weekend of April 26 to 28, 2026. With shows spanning up to 200 attendees in the audience, “Henry VI: The Rise of Richard” was a true success for the Drew theatre community.
Upon entry into the theatre, audience members had a chance to admire the magnificently-built set. Consisting of a multi-level chessboard and broken columns and arches, the stage immediately established a world of war reminiscent of “Game of Thrones” level conflict.
The pre-show also gave the audience a quick glimpse into the warring factions within the play, the house of Lancaster and the house of York. Introducing almost all of the characters in just under a minute, the audience was immediately able to grasp the relationships and tensions between the characters while providing a precursor to the type of action that would be seen later in the play.
The costumes seen during the pre-show and throughout also reflected the status and relative positions of each character expertly. Even mirroring elements of chess here as well, audience members could easily understand who was fighting who in this War of Roses and whether they operated as a pawn, knight or bishop, or king and queen. Additionally, the patterns and textures seen in the style of dress complemented each actor and the character they portrayed in terms of personality, rank and importance.
The performances of all the cast were outstanding and provoked much emotion from the audience. One performance that stood out was that of Queen Margaret, played by Natalia Rakviashvili (‘26). The actress perfectly portrayed the ruthless queen and how devoted she was to her husband and King Henry, ready to do anything to maintain Henry’s position as king of England. The actress also showed how much the queen cared for her son, Prince Edward (played by Maria Quintiliana (‘28)), and would stop at nothing to ensure he would be ruler of England after Henry passed.
Henry VI, played by Gin Mitchell (‘26), was also a noteworthy role in the show. The internal struggle Henry faced throughout the show is depicted through Mitchell’s mannerisms. Henry’s speech after the battle between the White and Red Rose houses truly shows how conflicted Henry is between maintaining his role as king of England or giving his throne to York, played by Hallie Benway (‘28), to finally stop all the bloodshed between the houses.
Corinne Iacobucci’s (‘29) performance as Richard, the cunning and scheming younger brother to Edward (played by Grady Cummings (‘27)) was remarkable. Iacobucci was able to put on a perfect poker face when working with Richard’s brothers, while secretly scheming their downfalls so he could rightfully assume the crown and become king of England. The cliffhanger at the end left the audience wanting more of Iacobucci’s performance, wanting to know what would happen next with Richard’s story arc.
Kayla Rose’s (‘26) iconic role as Clifford was also outstanding. You could see the pure rage on Rose’s face and the vengeance that Clifford was after for his father, who was slain by Rutland’s father (Rutland is played by Troy Larkins-Johnson (‘28)). The combat scenes between Rose’s character of Clifford were phenomenal. Even after the character was killed, you could still feel Clifford’s presence looming in the set, his loyalty to the Red Rose never fading even in death.
Speaking of loyalty, well more like uncertain loyalty, Sophia Taylor’s (‘28) portrayal of Warwick really showed that Warwick was only interested in saving himself. His constant flip flopping between the houses in order to save himself was intriguing and you never knew quite where his true loyalties were.
Even though Warwick starts as a clear ally to the White Rose, he is seen going back and forth as to not be killed by either house at a given time. It really made you want to understand what was going on in Warwick’s head at any given moment.
Considering all of these aspects of the show, Drew’s first-ever collaboration with the Shakespeare Theatre was a hit. Students were clearly able to showcase their talents in a show of this size and all the hard work that went into this production was evident from the moment one walked through the doors.
Eva Esqueda is a senior majoring in Media and Comunications and minoring in French, American Studies and film studies.
Katie Germinder is a junior majoring in environmental studies and sustainability and minoring in anthropology.