Searching for truths in ruthless Richard

But actor John Douglas Thompson, who plays the title role in a new Shakespeare & Company production starting tonight in Lenox, is trying to find the truths behind the lies.

“This is a character who is notorious for his levels of deceit, and John pretty much from day one of rehearsal threw that out and said, ‘If I’m going to be dealing in deceit, I have to be telling the truth,’ ’’ director Jonathan Croy says. “He’ll tell the truth in one moment, and in the next he’ll tell another truth. And what I’m finding is, we’re getting a really rich exploration of who this man is.’’

In productions where Richard is obviously lying and leading people astray, the effect can be a sort of blunt villainy that makes the rest of the cast seem dumb — and the audience too, Croy says.

Thompson, though, is playing “the capacity this man has to tell different truths, to live in different parts of himself completely, to actually fall in love with Lady Anne at one point, to actually strike up friendships that he knows are heading down the toilet. When it comes from a basis of truth, I think it resounds more fully,’’ Croy says.

Thompson himself describes his take on the role in less dramatic terms. He says he’s simply trying to play the person Richard III is at the beginning of the play: a man who sees his brother on the throne and feels no one’s minding the store. A hunchback with a complicated relationship to his own deformity. A son whose mother never seemed to show him love, and whose relationship to women is complicated as a result.

“I want to justify where this man is coming from,’’ Thompson says, “so if anything I’m trying to find the humanity of the character, the conscience of the character, so it’s not just an empty soul committing bad deeds. There’s reasons for the things he does. . .’’

Thompson returns to the Shakespeare & Co. stage after an acclaimed turn as “Othello’’ in 2008 that went on to play New York. The cast includes Shakespeare & Company cofounder Rocco Sisto, Johnny Lee Davenport, Nigel Gore, and Annette Miller.

Productions of “Richard III’’ have often been set in other time periods to suggest parallels to other despots, notably Hitler, and in rehearsals, they have discussed comparisons to the corruption of 1920s Chicago.

“But to put the play into some historical context other than the one it was set in really just limits the play,’’ Croy says. Sticking to the original 15th-century time period, as this production does, “keeps a broader spectrum of response in the audience’s hands. We’re not making the associations for them, they’re making them for themselves.’’

Like most troupes tackling this long play, the company has cut it to under three hours. And to help Thompson meet the role’s physical demands, the actor has a padded costume and a raised boot.

“I’ve known actors who’ve gone and created their own hunchback and their own limp, and have actually thrown out their backs and thrown off their hips and things,’’ Croy says. “We would like him to live through the entire run.’’

During several months of preparation, Croy served as assistant director on the production under Shakespeare & Company artistic director Tony Simotes, who was directing. But after rehearsals started, Simotes bowed out because of a medical issue and Croy took over. “He’s become like my Don Corleone,’’ Croy says. “I’ll go and sit at his knees and get his advice about things.’’

In the end, the production rests on Thompson’s shoulders, padded or not.

“You always have to find a way to love the character you’re playing,’’ the actor says. “If you start to think of the character as a villain, you’re going to miss out on so many aspects of that character’s humanity. Because they all have it. Our job as actors is to find that humanity and bring it to life on the stage.’’

Runs through Sept. 5. Tickets: $15-$85. www.shakespeare.org, 413-637-3353

Joel Brown can be reached at jbnbpt@gmail.com.