mertz charitable trust; and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. "for god's sake let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings." westminster abbey, for over a thousand years, graveyard of the great kings and queens of england. this is one of them, richard ii murdered, some say over 600 years ago. the inscription says here that he was tall in body and as sage as homer. it goes on to say that he laid low anyone who violated the royal prerogative. well, that last bit perhaps flatters him. one man, henry bolingbroke duke of hereford not only violated the prerogative, he dismantled it. the play "richard ii" dares to imagine what it is to have supreme power and then lose it. are you contented to resign the crown? ay. no. no. ay, for i must nothing be. this drama offers a ringside seat to one of the most scandalous and shocking moments in english royal history. "richard ii," a play about a weak, ineffective monarch who is deposed. the tragedy of the play and the theatrical dynamic of it comes from the fact that richard is the right