Crippled king. Fierce warrior. Cunning psychopath. For four centuries, Shakespeare’s Richard III has been regarded as the greatest villain in world drama; a bottled spider, loved and loathed for spinning a web of lies and violence around the monarchy.

In 2012, Richard’s resting place was finally uncovered: an unmarked, unremarkable, shallow grave beneath a supermarket car park – too small for the remains or the myth. But Richard – the crooked shadow, the symbol of unchecked ambition – is larger than any one person, living or dead.

This year, he’s getting the royal treatment.

The Tragedy of King Richard III is an excavation of the play, the man and ourselves. Bigger than history, bigger than Shakespeare, this is a story of rampant revenge with some hard questions for us all: What are our dreams of power? Have we created a civilisation that corrupts those who rule it? Or do we need their corruption – to let us off the hook?

Armed with some of Queensland’s most intrepid theatre makers, this promises to be a fast and furious blood-soaked battle royale, where nobody’s getting out clean – or alive.

The Tragedy of King Richard III
21 May – 1 June 2016
Roundhouse Theatre – La Boîte, Brisbane
www.laboite.com.au