Richard II

William Collins Books and Decca Records are proud to present ARGO Classics, a historic catalogue of classic prose and verse read by some of the world’s most renowned voices. Originally released as vinyl records, these expertly remastered stories are now available to download for the first time.


‘Bear you well in this new spring of time,
Lest you be cropp'd before you come to prime.’


King Richard II rules England in a wasteful and short-sighted way, spending money unwisely and selecting his counselors foolishly. His manner ostracises him from his people and his country and it’s not long before both commoners and noblemen feel Richard has gone too far.


When Richard seizes land that rightfully belongs to his cousin Henry Bolingbroke, Bolingbroke retaliates by invading England while Richard is at war in Ireland. More popular with the commoners, Henry is eventually crowned King Henry IV.


All of the Shakespeare plays within the ARGO Classics catalogue are performed by the Marlowe Dramatic Society and Professional Players. The Marlowe was founded in 1907 with a mission to focus on effective delivery of verse, respect the integrity of texts, and rescue neglected plays by Shakespeare’s contemporaries and the less performed plays of Shakespeare himself. The Marlowe has performed annually at Cambridge Arts Theatre since its opening in 1936 and continues to produce some of the finest actors of their generations.


Thurston Dart, Professor of Music at London University and a Fellow of Jesus College Cambridge, directed the music for this production.


The full cast includes: Richard Pasco; William Devlin; Cyril Luckham; Timothy West; Roy Spencer; John Shrapnel; Peter Jeffrey; Sidney Bromley; George Rylands; Gary Watson; Peter Orr; David King; Gordon Gardner; Harvey Hall; Denis McCarthy; Frank Duncan; Dudley Jones; Barbara Leigh-Hunt; Beatrix Lehmann; Peter Woodthorpe; Clive Swift; Alaric Cotter; Norman Mitchell.