In Richard III, the conclusion to the War of the Roses tetralogy, Richard of York connives, lies, and murders his way to the top. In the process, he dispatches his brothers, nephews, and his own wife with aplomb, plenty of puns, a broken fourth wall that paved the way for House of Cards, and a plot that both Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth infamously loved. As the tyrannical anti-hero of Shakespeare’s early masterpiece, Richard III stands without peer. //WORKS REFERENCED // James Mann, The Great Rift: Dick Cheney, Colin Powell, and the Broken Friendship That Defined an Era (2020) // CREDITS // Intro Music: Jon Sayles, "The Witches' Dance" (composed by anonymous); Outro Music: Jon Sayles, “Saltarello” (composed by anonymous); Illustrative excepts from: Richard III, dir. Richard Loncraine (1995) and Richard III, dir. Laurence Olivier (1955)