Nicolás Pérez Costa - Richard III Interview

Following acclaimed productions in Madrid and internationally, Argentine director Nicolás Pérez Costa presents a new London adaptation of Shakespeare’s Richard III.

Far from a traditional staging, this production transforms the classic tragedy into a visceral, dark, and deeply human contemporary theatrical experience. Performed in the round, this physically driven reinterpretation places the audience directly inside a brutal and decaying universe where power is fought through bodies, rhythm, and violence.

Brought to life by an international ensemble cast, the show combines intense physical theatre, live percussion, dynamic character transformations, and a bold Latin vision to explore the timeless mechanisms of ambition, seduction, and political destruction. It is a raw, poetic, and high-energy experience designed specifically for contemporary audiences, theatre enthusiasts, and lovers of bold, visual storytelling who want to see Shakespeare re-imagined for the modern world.

We chatted to Nicolás Pérez Costa to learn more.

You’ve had acclaimed productions in Madrid and internationally. What prompted you to bring this specific adaptation to London, the historic home of Shakespeare, and how has the production evolved for this new stage?

Last year I had the opportunity to come to London with “Dos Tronos Dos Reinas” by Pepe Cibrian, alongside my colleague Nacho Guerreros, as part of the Festeló n Hispanic Theatre Festival. I was deeply impressed by the extraordinary vitality of London’s theatre scene: the sheer number of productions, the diversity of artistic languages, and above all, its profoundly cosmopolitan spirit. After that experience, I felt it was time to bring my own theatrical language to such a stimulating environment. Bringing Richard III to Shakespeare’s historic home ills me with an enormous sense of artistic responsibility. Staging it at The Cockpit, with its unique spatial characteristics, has required us to rethink a production that had already been developing in Madrid for nine months. The most profound transformation, however, came from returning to Shakespeare’s original language. Many Spanish translations inevitably lose part of the musicality, rhythm and poetic power of the original verse.

Returning to English has forced us to rebuild the piece from a different perspective. Throughout this process, the international cast has been fundamental. The physical language, live percussion and dramatic action that already existed have had to engage in a dialogue with the demands of Shakespeare’s verse. Far from being an obstacle, this has enormously enriched the production.

The production notes mention a 'bold Latin vision' brought to life by an international ensemble. How does this cultural perspective change the rhythm, temperature, and emotional landscape of a traditionally British history play?

When I speak about a Latin vision, I am fundamentally speaking about bodies that are visceral, passionate and intensely emotional. I am interested in approaching dramatic situations through emotional urgency, even in the smallest moments. There is a certain temperament and immediacy in the way we confront conflict that forms part of our theatrical tradition. In our production, characters do not simply think conflict; they physically inhabit it. The body reacts before the words. This creates a highly charged emotional landscape where ambition, desire, fear and guilt emerge almost explosively. Without altering Shakespeare’s essence, I believe this perspective allows us to approach the tragedy from a deeply human, visceral and contemporary place through our bodies. 

Shakespeare’s Richard III is often associated with heavy period costumes and formal delivery. What was the exact moment or image that made you say, 'No, we need to strip all of that away and make this visceral and physical’?

Peter Brook speaks about “dead theatre” as theatre that can be avoided. From the very beginning, I knew I did not want to create a museum piece. I felt that the aesthetics had to become an essential part of the storytelling rather than merely reconstructing history. Very early on, an image emerged: that of a decaying, dystopian world that could belong equally to the past, the present or the future. When I look at the world today, I see how ambition, individualism and the struggle for power continue to shape our decisions, both in politics and in everyday life. I imagined a brutal universe in which the characters are not only fighting for power, but also struggling to survive within a corrupted system. At that moment, I understood that the production had to be visceral, physical and profoundly contemporary. 

Staging Richard III in the round places the audience directly inside this 'decaying universe.' How does removing the proscenium arch change the power dynamic between Richard and the audience, especially during his famous, manipulative soliloquies?

Having the audience so close in a play like Richard III, where the protagonist constantly addresses them, somehow completes Shakespeare’s original proposal. The audience begins as a witness, but little by little, almost without realising it, becomes Richard’s accomplice. The in-the-round configuration creates an almost immersive experience. There is no safe distance from which to observe the action: the audience inhabits the same decaying universe as the characters. I hope this proximity allows spectators not only to understand Richard’s discourse and intentions, but also to empathise with the victims of his actions and even recognise the wounds and impulses that motivate him. One of Shakespeare’s greatest achievements is that he never allows us to judge his characters from a distance.

You use live percussion rather than a traditional melodic score. How does the heartbeat of live drums dictate the pacing of political ambition and violence on stage?

Although the production also contains moments of music, percussion ultimately becomes its vital pulse. It is the heartbeat of the characters, the sound of war and, in many ways, the very breathing of the tragedy. Here, once again, our Latin perspective appears through visceral intensity and the need for conflict to pass through the body. The deep resonance of the barrels does not simply accompany the action; it physically vibrates through the audience. For me, the drum is war, strength and the voice of the pack. It is a primal sound that penetrates the bodies of the characters, the actors and, hopefully, the audience as well. Richard III is not a play that should leave anyone indifferent. 

The production design describes a 'brutal and decaying universe where power is fought through bodies.' Visually and scenically, how do you communicate decay without relying on literal, historical ruins?

This production does not attempt to reconstruct the original historical world. Instead, it imagines a possible one. It is a dystopian universe: a world that could be, rather than one that was. The original image behind the production was that of a sewer or underground world: a place where breathing is difficult and where characters desperately try to reach something above them, a form of power whose true nature they barely understand. The decay, therefore, does not appear through literal historical ruins. It inhabits the bodies and the space itself. It is present in the violence, exhaustion and constant struggle for survival. The scenographic elements are few, symbolic and conceptual. The actors themselves continually transform them, creating new images and spaces and revealing a universe in a permanent state of decomposition.

Shakespeare is famous for its intricate verse, but your production is deeply physically driven. How do you balance the weight of Shakespeare’s spoken language with intense physical theatre?

The encounter with the British cast has been fundamental. Their experience, their profound knowledge of Shakespeare and the love they have for the author have compelled me to search for a new balance between body and text. Returning to the original English has meant rediscovering the extraordinary musicality of Shakespeare’s verse. I do not believe movement can ever eclipse Shakespeare. His poetry is simply too powerful. What physical theatre does is create additional layers of meaning and allow the truth of each dramatic situation to pass through the actors’ bodies with greater intensity. Far from competing with the text, physical theatre brings the work closer to contemporary audiences and, paradoxically, allows us to approach Shakespeare’s original essence more deeply. 

The international ensemble undergoes dynamic character transformations. Can you pull back the curtain on how the actors use their bodies to transition between the various victims, conspirators, and factions of the Wars of the Roses?

I profoundly believe in the actor as the centre of the theatrical event and therefore as the fundamental vehicle of storytelling. An actor who truly understands the story they need to tell can sustain an entire theatrical universe almost alone. This is something I have explored for many years in the historical monologues I perform. In Richard III, we work from the same principle. Although this is a condensed adaptation of the original play, the actors perform multiple roles and achieve precise transformations through small modifications in costume, voice, breath and, above all, physicality. Changes in rhythm, energy and physical structure allow the same performer to inhabit very different identities. These transformations may be subtle, but they are deeply meaningful. I must say that the cast has embraced this challenge magnificently. Their talent and commitment have been essential in bringing this world to life. 

Richard III is a master of psychological seduction. In a highly physical show, how do you translate that cerebral, toxic charm into movement and spatial relationships?

Richard’s body is built around an image that emerged many years ago in another production, something I called “the seduction of the creature”. I am fascinated by the idea that something initially perceived as strange, disturbing or even repulsive can nevertheless become deeply attractive. Richard’s seduction does not respond to conventional ideas of beauty or charisma. It emerges from something darker and more unsettling: forbidden desires, hidden impulses and those aspects of our humanity that we rarely dare to confront. On stage, I try to construct Richard as a predator: someone who traps others through manipulation, victimhood and extraordinary emotional intelligence. His relationship with space and with the other characters constantly seeks intimacy, proximity and, ultimately, domination. I believe that is where much of Richard’s fascination lies: even when we know exactly who he is and what he is doing, we still want to listen to him.

You’ve designed this specifically for contemporary audiences to explore the timeless mechanisms of ambition and political destruction. When you look at the political landscape of 2026, what mirrors do you see most clearly reflected in Richard's rise and fall?

I believe the world has become profoundly polarised. There have always been “Richard IIIs”, but today we once again inhabit a world marked by war, extreme discourses and an increasing inability to listen to one another. Excessive ambition, the construction of enemies and the struggle for power affect not only politics but also our everyday relationships. Richard III reminds us that these mechanisms almost always lead to the same result: destruction. Sometimes I feel very small in the face of such realities. I do not believe artists can change the world with a capital W. But I do believe we can transform small worlds. We can provoke reflection, move people and encourage them to see reality differently. Perhaps it is naive, but I like to think that the accumulation of those small transformations may one day help us extinguish the ire in which we currently live. 

If you could ask Shakespeare a question about the play, what would you ask him?

I would ask Shakespeare whether he felt compassion for Richard while writing the play. Whether he believed Richard’s view of the world was, at least in part, the consequence of rejection, humiliation and exclusion because of his physical difference. I would also ask him whether he ever imagined that Richard III would remain so disturbingly relevant centuries later. Was the world he inhabited, in terms of human relationships and power structures, as painful and fractured as ours? And did he write the play, in some way, as a warning about what we may become? 

What was the first piece of theatre that had a big impact on you?

My memory is constructed as a collage of images. In Argentina, where I come from, theatre, much like here in the UK, occupies a fundamental place in our culture. We are taken to the theatre from a very young age, and I always looked at that world with enormous curiosity. But I think the first time I truly thought, “What is this? How is something like this possible?” was when I saw Man of La Mancha. I remember leaving the theatre deeply moved. There was something in the combination of poetry, music, epic scale and humanity that affected me profoundly. In many ways, I believe that experience still accompanies my work today.

What would you hope someone takes away from seeing Richard III?

I deeply believe in theatre that moves people. For me, to be moved literally means to move with another person. I hope that audiences leave this Richard III energised and transformed by the experience. Beyond intellectual reflection, because we all know, more or less, the story we are going to see when we attend Richard III, what truly interests me is that the spectator does not remain indifferent. In the theatre I try to create, I hope that something inside the audience moves without them being entirely able to explain why. A tear that appears unexpectedly, a spontaneous applause, a physical reaction that emerges before thought. I am interested in a theatre that shakes you and forces you, as you leave the auditorium, to ask yourself: Why was I moved? What exactly did I witness? And what do I do with it now?

Richard III runs at The Cockpit Theatre in London from Wednesday 8th until Saturday 11th July 2026. For tickets and more information visit https://www.thecockpit.org.uk/show/richard_III