Costume for Richard in Shakespeare's play, Richard III, worn by Laurence Olivier, Old Vic Company at the New Theatre, 1944.

Laurence Olivier’s portrayal of Shakespeare’s Richard III has entered theatrical legend. Given an afterlife by the 1955 film version, the performance has stayed in the popular imagination as the archetype of Shakespeare’s hunchbacked king. When Olivier was cast in John Burrell’s 1944 Old Vic Company production, he initially feared that he would be able to do little with the part, believing it to be too closely associated with barnstorming actor-managers. However, he gradually developed his idea of the role: ‘I wanted to look the most evil thing there was’, he said in his book, On Acting. Olivier liked to build his characters from the outside, and as Richard he disguised himself behind an exaggerated beak-like putty nose and shoulder-length black hair tinged with red. A rubber glove became the withered left hand.

The green velvet doublet that Olivier wore for his first scenes was designed by Doris Zinkeisen (1898–1991). It is inspired by 1480s fashions and looks opulent enough for a Royal duke. But the play was staged during the Second World War, under wartime rationing restrictions, and the ‘make do and mend’ philosophy of the time can be seen in the way that the neck infill and tight-fitting sleeves are constructed from the grosgrain fabric that was frequently used for blackout curtains. The doublet is designed so that the decorative stitching at the back only hangs properly when the costume is padded out by a hump, and the infill gives an irregular neckline that subtly emphasises the character’s deformity.