Giving my Right Arm for Richard II...

I would give my right arm to see the Donmar Warehouse's production--opening today--of Richard II. Okay, I would give me left arm; I'm too dependent on my right arm. Here are my reasons for exchanging a life of one armedness for a night at the theatre.

Reason 1: Donmar Warehouse productions are brilliant. 

Reason 2: Eddie Redmayne is playing Richard II. 

Reason 3: It's Shakespeare. And we all know how I feel about the bard.

Reason 4: Eddie Redmayne.

Reason 5: I saw Red in Chicago a month ago, and all I could think about was seeing the original cast that performed it at the Donmar (i.e. Eddie Redmayne & Alfred Molina). Simply a brilliant play. 

Reason 6: It's provocatively kairotic. 

"As opposition to his reign grows, Richard loses his crown and, with it, his grip on who he is, finally ending up broken in a prison cell. ‘Not that we’re making the parallel but I can’t help thinking of Gaddafi,’ Redmayne says. ‘He had all that belief in his own power and status, and then he was found in a sewer. There must have been a moment when he thought about himself: 'Oh, it’s not true,'"

"This year, any number of elaborately uniformed heads of state have found themselves sitting on the ground and telling sad stories of the death of kings, and several of their popularity-courting replacements have been tempted to follow their predecessors' methods having inherited their power. All over the Middle East, dictators and their opponents are changing places, and people are asking: "So what?" In 2011, Richard II is exactly the sort of play the Donmar ought to be staging" (Dobson).

Reason 7: Eddie Redmayne.

So if you were shopping for the perfect Christmas present to give me, all I want for Christmas is a flight to London and a ticket to see this. 

Did I mention Eddie Redmayne is in it?