King Lear

Sir Ian McKellen inhabits his Lear from the start as an old man afraid he is losing his mind – even while he makes arbitrary and foolish decisions.  Sir Ian’s emphasis on that fear of madness makes it, when it overtakes him, all the more ironic in that Lear begins to see the world as it really is.

After the magnificent 2014 production of Lear, with Simon Russell Beale in the title role, comes this Chichester Festival production, starring Sir Ian McKellen, whose choice the play was.  What we see this time is quite different.  Sir Ian wanted an ‘intimate’ experience for the audience and in transferring from Chichester to the Duke of York Theatre, in London’s West End, that’s what we get.  The Duke of York is, by West End standards, small, so the concentration on detailed performance is intense.  The space is complemented by a walkway extending out into the audience, but apart from Oliver Fenwick’s lighting effects and very real, soaking rain on the heath, this production is rather like the simplicity of the Globe.

Designer Paul Willis puts most of the cast in just slightly dated frocks and suits – either three-piece, or military or upper-class huntin’-shootin’-and fishin’ tweeds, waterproofs and caps.  The decision is an apt one: until disaster strikes, these out-of-touch characters are the privileged class enjoying their privileges – and scheming to take more.  Very contemporary.

Director Jonathan Munby makes some interesting casting choices – some bold and original, others perhaps not quite so successful.  The Fool is not the usual fey youngster but here played by Lloyd Hutchinson as a sort of Eric Morecombe comedian – a chunky, middle-aged man in a Fair Isle sweater and knitted jester’s hat.  This curiously makes the Fool’s barbed love for Lear moving in a fresh and original way.  Anita-Joy Uwajeh’s Cordelia, however, is never for a moment soft or sweet of voice and if Lear thinks she is, it’s another of his delusions.  And I confess to being quite thrown – and incredulous throughout – by Sinead Cusack as the outspoken, fearless but loyal-way-beyond-the-call-of-duty Kent.  What is achieved by having Kent as the Duchess of Kent?  Perhaps this was just too original (or modern) for me, who sees Kent as a crusty old soldier.  Danny Webb’s Gloucester only comes into his own once his nasty complacency and his eyes are taken from him – and then he is wonderful.  Meanwhile, Luke Thompson’s Edgar is curiously touching in his very ordinariness and his anguish at his father’s suffering – worse than his own – is very moving.

Edmund (James Corrigan) is suitably contrasting: dark, saturnine, manipulatively lecherous, a skilful dissembler – and one of the few truth-tellers in this story.  It’s quite believable that both sisters, Goneril (Claire Price) and Regan (Kirsty Bushell) would get the hots for him – Regan within hours of her husband’s death.  As with most productions, there’s a clear distinction between the sisters.  Ms Price is an English Rose, all blonde, peaches and cream and a bit Mumsy.  But Ms Bushell is practically a reason to see this production all on her own.  Febrile, restless, sadistic, voraciously ever up for it in her swirly short skirts and very high heels, she’s frightening and funny at the same time.  

I am with those that think King Lear is among the greatest tragedies ever written.  It is laden with the most beautiful and unforgettable verse; it is peopled with widely differing characters, all with plausible motives for their actions.  My reservations aside, and no matter how many times I have seen this play in various iterations, it has scenes of such insight, terror and heartbreak that it leaves one astonished.  The final scene of Lear and the dead Cordelia here made me weep: but it always does.

Michael Brindley

Photographer: Johan Persson