“I think most of the time, we are watching people deal with extraordinary circumstances,” director Craig Baldwin tells the actors gathered in a midtown rehearsal space.

It’s an unusually warm Sunday afternoon in mid-October, and the group has come together for their final rehearsal of Richard II before moving to tech week at the Astor Place Theatre. After running through the show without scripts, they’ve changed into more comfortable clothes and are now sitting in the part of the room marked “stage right,” holding their scripts and notebooks, eager to hear more from their director.

“The human element of the play is that we see how all these different people respond as their country falls apart,” Baldwin continues. “What choices do people make? Who’s trying to tear the country down, and who’s trying to rebuild it?”

Just the day before, New York’s massive “No Kings” protest had marched down the avenue right outside the building, giving an eerie relevance to this play written over four hundred years ago. Here in this room, a king is desperately clinging to power.

Richard II isn’t a play that most general audiences, especially Americans, know well. As the first work in Shakespeare’s Henriad series, it portrays events leading up to England’s turbulent, multi-generational civil war. At the heart of the story is King Richard—played by Michael Urie in this production—who exiles his cousin Henry Bolingbroke (Grantham Coleman), seizes noble lands, imposes unpopular taxes, and grows deeply unpopular through his poor management of the kingdom’s resources. Eventually overthrown and imprisoned by Bolingbroke, Richard—spoiler alert!—is murdered in his cell.

The obvious approach would be to portray Richard as distant and childish; he was only ten when he became king, after all. But this production “emphasizes how difficult it is to be king,” Urie tells me. (He and Baldwin have a long history: they were a year apart at Juilliard, and more recently, Baldwin directed Urie in the Shakespeare Theater Company’s 2019 production of Hamlet.) Urie’s Richard, though arrogant and sometimes condescending, also manages to earn some sympathy.

When the play was last staged in New York in 2006 (a Public Theater production planned for the Delacorte in 2020 was eventually turned into a radio drama), Baldwin was in the cast. (In his New Yorker review, Hilton Als described Baldwin’s performance as Thomas Mowbray as “captivating.”) Set in vaguely modern times, the production felt to him like a juicy political drama. “This is the story of a country being torn apart by bitter power struggles among the wealthy families that control it,” Baldwin says. “In my mind, it felt like a cinematic psychodrama, similar to Succession.”

For his own adaptation, Baldwin has set the play in 1980s Manhattan and rearranged some of the text so that when we first meet Richard, he’s remembering recent events from his prison cell.

“I asked myself, what was the prelude to our current era of American division, greed, and violence?” Baldwin says. That question led him to the tabloid-driven, “Greed is Good” 1980s: “Reaganomics, materialism, excess, and aggressive privatization.” He has also made Richard explicitly queer, with his community threatened by the looming AIDS crisis.

“In some ways, Richard has created his perfect paradise with this queer chosen family, ruling a kingdom and having everything they need,” Urie explains. “And then it’s all taken away from him.”

A few years behind Urie and Baldwin at Juilliard was Pascal, who is making her off-Broadway debut. Strikingly beautiful, she moves effortlessly around the room, sometimes strutting across the marked-off “stage” in high heels (just two weeks earlier, she had been doing much the same on Chanel’s spring 2026 runway) and at other times affectionately resting her head on a fellow actor’s shoulder.Pascal and Ryan Spahn in “Richard II.”
Photo: Carol Rosegg

She has long been an admirer of Urie and speaks highly of his talent. “It’s just so easy to share the stage with him,” she says. “He’s as curious and open as I am.”

Born in California but mostly raised in Chile, Pascal—the younger sister of actor Pedro Pascal, with whom she has walked several red carpets—had only seen screen adaptations and Spanish versions of Shakespeare before attending Juilliard. “I was very intimidated. I felt isolated while reading and studying his work,” she says of Shakespeare. “But then I realized it’s almost a language of its own. Once your voice and body step into that language, you become part of this theatrical and literary world. It took truly immersing myself in it to fall in love with the language.”

While preparing for her role as the queen in “Richard II,” Pascal has been reflecting on her experience playing Gertrude in a Juilliard production of “Hamlet.” Like Gertrude, the queen holds significant power quietly. “She’s on everyone’s mind, you know? She’s a leading character, but she doesn’t speak that much,” Pascal notes. “It’s so rich and complex, and so contradictory and painful to be in this position of self-doubt, having instincts but having to silence them.”

For Pascal, this production of “Richard II” speaks volumes to the current era. “This play will remind us of the questions we’re all asking. What is the purpose of existence when there’s so much violence and chaos? And what is the truth? It’s a very existential play—and we’re living in truly existential times.”

“Richard II” is now in previews, with opening night scheduled for November 10.

Frequently Asked Questions
Of course Here is a list of FAQs about Michael Urie and Lux Pascals production of Richard II designed to be helpful for both newcomers and seasoned theatergoers

General Beginner Questions

1 Who is starring in this new production of Richard II
This production stars Michael Urie as King Richard II and Lux Pascal in a key supporting role

2 Im not familiar with the play What is Richard II about
Its a Shakespearean history play about an English king Richard II who is deposed by his cousin Henry Bolingbroke The story explores themes of power identity leadership and the divine right of kings

3 Why is this production described as deeply personal
Both Michael Urie and Lux Pascal are bringing their unique personal identities and experiences to the forefront Urie is a prominent gay actor and Pascal is a transgender actor allowing them to explore the plays themes of identity and vulnerability in a fresh authentic way

4 What does perfectly timed for today mean
The plays central conflictquestioning a rulers legitimacy grappling with national identity and exploring the fluidity of power and selfdirectly mirrors many contemporary political and social discussions happening right now

5 Where and when is this production playing

Example Answer It is playing at The Classic Stage Company in New York City from to

Deeper Advanced Questions

6 How does Lux Pascals involvement make this production unique
Lux Pascal a talented transgender actor brings a powerful and nuanced perspective to the court of Richard II Her presence and performance inherently challenge traditional gender norms in classical theater adding layers of meaning to themes of loyalty identity and performance

7 What is Michael Uries connection to Shakespeare
While widely known for comedic roles in shows like Ugly Betty Urie is a classically trained stage actor with significant Shakespearean experience which allows him to bring both technical skill and emotional depth to the complex role of Richard

8 What specific themes from Richard II are most relevant to a modern audience
Key themes include