William Shakespeare's "Richard III" has provided centuries of audiences with a thrilling, chilling and thoroughly intriguing villain. Certainly his action through the play, and his bewitching power of speech contribute to his intense portrayal, but one of the most appealing and most sinister aspects of Richard is his overt invitation to the audience to experience the plot as a co-conspirator, an insider. This alluring opportunity, seen most clearly near the end of Richard's opening soliloquy, profoundly affects the audience's experience.

Richard opens the play alone, prefacing the action and providing his take on its background, but also immediately associating the viewer with himself. He is the only source of information and single subject. Richard's speech builds from "Now is the winter of our discontent," through to "dive thoughts, down to my soul: here Clarence comes;" showing that he consciously revealed something internal to his audience, and now is hiding it to return to the Richard known in the play by the other characters. (I.i 1+41) Much of his speech merely informs the audience, and provides very necessary insight into Richard's mindset, in particular his attitudes toward "the lascivious pleasing of lute," (I.i.13) and himself, "Cheated of feature by dissembling nature/ Deform'd, unfinish'd." (I.i.17) However near the end, before Clarence enters the stage and detracts from Richard's sole presence, he invites the audience to enter his plan by elaborating simply and clearly: "Plots have I laid, induction dangerous..." (I.i.32) With these lines, some suspense is lost, for the audience has gained invaluable insight into the coming play; but, Richard's devilish allure and success at drawing the viewer into his circle, gives back whatever was lost and more.

Lawrence Olivier's "Richard III" presents this initial invitation by Richard masterfully. The opening scene is not Richard alone, but an entire court, gathered for the coronation of Edward VI, so the viewer is distanced from Richard. However it becomes clear very quickly that the camera is actually watching the proceedings with Richard's eyes, thus aligning the viewer's perception with Richard. However the actual moment of invitation comes after the court has withdrawn to merriment and the camera symbolically opens a door to reveal Richard, alone in the throne room. Once the door has been opened the take runs smoothly for nearly the entire speech, several minutes. The camera does approach Richard, but the real movement comes as much from Olivier who while locking his gaze directly into the lens, actually leans conspiratorially into the frame. The camera does not zoom into him, rather he approaches the viewer, shrinking the distance between himself and his audience. Olivier uses a version of the speech that is much longer, using excerpts from "Henry VI," and he uses this lean at key moments in its evolution. The moment of invitation is in this progression of approaches, culminating with "Why I can smile and murder whiles I smile."
Olivier succeeds so clearly in drawing his viewer in, that immediately afterward when he hears and then sees the funeral march of Edward V with his wife Anne, he can look directly into the lens and smile, with an incredible sinister benevolence. His sly facial expression not only continues his appeal to the hidden usurper in every viewer, but also conveys his self-satisfaction at already having hooked his first supporters.

In Loncraine's "Richard III" the use of eye contact to seduce the audience is even more apparent. Loncraine runs an entire war sequence before the title scene, vilifying Richard before he is given a single word, but the true opening scene is a 1930 ballroom where Edward is triumphant as king. Amid the well dressed and civilian crowd Richard appears in stark contrast in a drab military uniform. This visual placement immediately draws the eye to Richard, but it doesn't function to align the viewer with Richard. This is achieved soon after, when the camera centers on Richard's face in a medium shot, that gives McKellen the opportunity to stare passively into the lens, and into the viewer. The next shot, similar to Olivier, presents the room according to Richard; the camera shows his mother (introduced earlier as the Duchess of York) then pans just in time to show Clarence being escorted away by Richard's men, then switches to a shot, still in the same depth, of Catesby whispering into the ear of King Edward, and returns in close up to Clarence's exit. This progression is followed by Richard's ascent of the podium, and his presentation of "Now is the winter..."

In this case Richard is addressing a seen audience, who responds with laughter, and thus isn't really communicating directly to the audience. This deviation is overcome when the shot switches to Richard entering a bathroom and still muttering to himself. As he continues through the speech he doesn't look at the camera, until he broaches the same "Why I can smile and murder whiles I murder." As he speaks this line McKellen 'sees' the viewer in the bathroom mirror and turns to look ominously into the lens. Still holding the viewer's full attention Richard begins to leave and as he opens the door beckons the viewe to follow. This gesture falls totally outside the realm of the play and can only be a blatant invitation to the viewer to accompany him and hear what he has to say; showing not only Richard's incredible power to command, but also his awareness of the audience. The shot then cuts to Clarence about to board a boat, with Richard placed squarely in the corner staring at the viewer and leading a running commentary. (The overtness of this shot seems slightly ridiculous, but any humor conveyed is deliberate on the part of the villain who is sure of his own appeal.) This pattern of visual attention and bridging continues after Clarence's boat leaves the shot. Richard's eyes switch back and forth between the retreating Clarence and the viewer three times. After the last switch Richard, looking directly at the lens, reveals his plan to marry, identically to Olivier's invitation to further witness his villainy.
Both productions, Olivier's and Loncraine's use explicit eye contact, in near shots to convey the hideous power of Richard, inclding his power over the audience. This incredible power, manifested in Richard's ability to draw the audience to his side, is a powerful aspect of the play's allure and longevity.

(c) 1999 by the author. All rights reserved.