Introduction Richard II is a Shakespeare’s play, which centers on the rise and fall of Richard II, the King of England. King Richard II ascends into the throne of England when still young, but lands himself into a sequence of troubles that lead to his fall and death. King Richards starts experiencing troubles when he intervenes in the conflict of inheritance between his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, and Thomas Mowbray. King Richard II exiles Henry Bolingbroke for ten years and later reduces the period of exile to six years, while Thomas Mowbray receives a complete exile. After exiling Henry Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray, King Richard II inherits a piece of land, which belongs to the father of Henry Bolingbroke, and thus acting as the heir. When Henry Bolingbroke hears the news that King Richard II has inherited his piece of land, he plans to come from exile and recover it. Thus, the climax of the play, Richard II, is in the third scene in the third act, where Henry Bolingbroke dethrones King Richard II and takes over as King Henry IV. Hence, the movie review interprets the performances of Fiona Shaw and Ben Whishaw in the third scene in the third act, where they act as King Richard II in the play, Richard II. Why Act Three, Scene Three The third scene in the third act is a very important scene because it depicts the climax of Richard II. In the third scene, Richard II reaches climax because it portrays the fall of King Richard II from the throne and the ascension of Henry Bolingbroke into power as King Henry IV. King Richard II makes two major mistakes in his reign as a King of England. Firstly, King Richard II exiles his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, and inherits his land and thus creates enmity between him and his cousin. Secondly, King Richard II fails to govern his Kingdom with diligence. The trouble of King Richard II also starts when he loses his ability to govern people due to wasteful spending on wars, cronies, and self-indulgence, which increase taxes and thus create a sense of displeasure among the people. When Henry Bolingbroke returns from the exile, he takes the advantage of the weaknesses of King Richard and mobilizes his troops to dethrone him while away from the palace. Therefore, the third scene is important to the whole play because it provides the climax of the conflict between King Richard II and his cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, who takes over the throne after overthrowing King Richard II. Changes Made by Fiona Shaw and Ben Whishaw Fiona Shaw makes significant changes to the original play in terms of cuts, insertions, and reorganizations to fit the changes in the roles that King Richard II performs in the play. The major change that is evident is the change of King Richard II from masculine to feminine gender. In the third scene, Fiona Shaw converses with Henry Bolingbroke as her cousin. The version of Fiona Shaw cuts masculine terms and inserts feminine terms as the conversations in the third scene requires. Fiona Shaw acts as queen in the play and all the texts that regard Richard II as a king become queen. Moreover, Fiona Shaw tells Henry Bolingbroke that she is too young to be her mother, yet in the original text, Richard II tells Henry Bolingbroke that he is too you