Have ended up booking to see two different productions of Richard III within four days, all the better for close comparisons. And, both productions are going up against Propeller/Richard Clothier who set the bar very high last year with their gore-fest take on Shakespeare's most evil king.

First up is the RSC's version headed by Jonjo O'Neill which I saw on Thursday evening in the smaller, more intimate Swan Theatre, Stratford.

I was excited when I heard Jonjo had  been cast as Richard III, firstly because I loved the cheeky energy he had  as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet a couple of years ago and, secondly, because I thought a younger Richard would add an interesting energy to the play, as the role is traditionally played by men nudging middle age. It turns out that Richard, the real one, was actually 32 when he died so the casting isn't actually that radically - except in the world of theatre.

And he brought youthful energy to the role in abundance. Within his first speech he'd broken the fourth wall and responded to one audience member's particularly loud laugh at a line, ad-libbing a response with a grin and a wink. He was a cocky, smiling and cheeky Richard barely hiding his duplicity and all the more venomous for it.

It was all performed at a frenetic pace - sometimes maybe a little too frenetic, although it does serve to nicely mirror the increasingly frantic and sometime erratic behaviour of the King as he struggles to stay on top.