King Lear by William Shakespeare
Studio Company & Riverside Theatre
Monday 16th July 2007
(as published in yesterday's The Daily Telegraph)
Director Mark Kilmurry is a master of interpreting Shakespeare with beautiful simplicity. His latest in-the-round production of King Lear bears his signature style in a stripped down show that clocks in at a swift two and a half hours.
A soundscape of rain opens the epic journey. On a bare stage, with just a box as furnishing the tragedy begins. The eight actors come together centre stage in silence. Their characters seem uncomfortable and unsure why they are there.
The silence is broken as the loving relationship between King Lear (Patrick Dickson) and his youngest daughter, Cordelia (Ksenja Logos) comes bursting on to the stage in a game of hide-and-seek. With appropriate disdain his two other (older) daughters, Regan (Vanessa Downing) and Goneril (Toni Scanlon) stand aside looking on.
With that, the relationships are established. The silent individuals are given context and we prepare to observe as Lear’s power is stripped away by those closest to him.
This is a drastically cut back version. Sometimes the brevity works and sometimes it doesn’t. Kilmurry’s trademark simplicity and his severe abridging of the text can be distracting. At other times, his approach delivers the full force of the tragedy with great impact.
In one sense the production loses an epic quality, the lack of which sits uncomfortably with the final moments of Lear’s tragic fall. Such economy of scale, with the removal of the characters Albany and Cornwall (husbands of Lear’s elder daughters in the unabridged version), as well as other severe cuts, all serve to make Lear’s story less empathetic.
However, moments such as when the illegitimate Edmond (John Trutwin) is complicit in the blinding of Gloucester (Danny Mitchell), give the production an awesome horror.
It is the clarity of staging, design and performance which makes this a delight to watch.
Kilmurry’s seamless scene changes, sound design and scenographic images are breathtaking. He has an eye for strong imagery and you grasp that the fall of Lear is mirrored in all the characters. The play, as Edmond says, ‘comes full circle’.
2 comments:
Yes I enjoyed this production as well. What an extraordinary play "Lear" is. There was also an interesting production done recently at Bondi Pavilion. Nicholas, you should check out this group--they do good work. I think their next one is "The Tempest", which should be worth a look.
I rather enjoyed this production of King Lear, and would recommend it to all.
I did not so much enjoy the bondi production, however this is probably just personal taste.
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