The Royal Family

The picture that Richard 'took' every night at the start of the play.
Here we have the king, Edward IV standing in the centre, with his wife, Queen Elizabeth, and his mother, the Duchess of York sitting in front of him. Sitting on the left-hand side of the chaise is the king's brother George, the Duke of Clarence, while leaning against the right-hand end of the chaise is Rivers, Queen Elizabeth's brother. Sitting on the floor in front of them is Lady Dorset, a child from Queen Elizabeth's previous marriage and the two young princes, Edward and Elizabeth's sons.
In the course of the play all the male characters in the picture die - the king from 'natural' causes (perhaps brought on by the news of his brother's death) but the rest are murdered on Richard III's instructions. The woman at least all survive the play, despite the many tragic events that take place all around them. Lady Dorset flees the country and returns with Richmond. After the death of Richard III in battle Richmond will become Henry VII and by marrying Lady Dorset units the houses of York and Lancaster.
If you are familiar with the history you might know that Shakespeare played a little fast and loose with historical facts, for example in the portrayal of Richard's role in George's death. And our director in turn took further liberties in the interest of cutting the play, Shakespeare' second-longest after Hamlet, to a more manageable length. As a result, the Lady Dorset character is an amalgamation (and partial gender swap) of Queen Elizabeth's son, the Marquis of Dorset, and the royal princess Elizabeth, daughter of the king and queen.
A good last night to finish the four-night run, and another great cast party. Which started late, and therefore a 5am departure wasn't as long a night as it sounds! In any case, it meant this had to be a backblip!