Richard III is enjoying a resurgence.

This timely Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory production is an enthralling journey through our great Bard’s famously unhistorical history.

Following last season’s first English history play Richard II, SATTF delves into the fantastical tale of the Duke of Gloucester’s ruthless rise to power, where heads roll and not even two young princes are permitted to stand in his way.

Richard himself commands attention from the off, colluding conversationally with the audience, whilst declaring himself determined to “prove a villain.” 

His character is a heady mix of charm and malice, played masterfully by John Mackay, making a welcome return to the Tobacco Factory after several successful runs with the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Director Andrew Hilton has captured a complexity to the last Plantagenet, who is richly developed.

Richard is entirely scheming and ruthless on his murderous route to the throne, but also charismatic and comedic. 

And on the eve of battle, when the ghosts of his victims come to haunt him in his dreams, there is a brief glimpse at a conscience.

Bristol’s SATTF has come from humble roots to became one of the country’s most consistent Shakespeare companies.  

In its fourteenth year, the company has shown that an intimate, stripped back setting makes Shakespeare accessible. 

With an uncluttered stage using few props, their beautifully-costumed performance in-the-round allows the focus to fall on the fable.

While Mackay is rightly the star of this show – doing little to make you feel like Richard didn’t deserve his final resting place beneath a Leicester car park – royal women Lisa Kay and Dorothea Myer-Bennett give fantastic depictions of grief and suffering, and Alan Coveney (Hastings) and Paul Currier (Buckingham) also deserve special praise.

Shakespeare’s second longest play has a run time of just over three hours, but as the tensions ratchet up in the second half towards the final battle at Bosworth Field, this is the last thing on your mind.

Richard III is at the Tobacco Factory, Bristol until 30th March