KING LEAR: RSC till 21 June
KING LEAR: William Shakespeare
RSC, Courtyard, Stratford Upon Avon
Runs: 3h 40m, till 21 June
Tkts: 0870 609 1110, www.rsc.org.uk
Review: Rod Dungate, 31 May 2007-06-02
Marvellous, thrilling
Trevor Nunn’s production is a splendid affair. The great soaring sweeps of the play carry us along and the text is illuminated all around us with great clarity.
Nunn opens his production with thunderous organ chords, Lear enters with all possible panoply of State. This the pinnacle from which he will fall – no, descend – until he is essential man; from essential man he rises again to spiritually enlightened man, a man who knows the nature of himself. Nunn gives great emphasis to the relationship with man and god(s) – prayers are not lightly entered into and curses are taken seriously and feared. The real world, the world surrounding the world of the play, is much evident whether it be Lear’s carousing knights or dogs barking and howling. The thunderous organ at the opening is reflected back to us as the thunder of the storm on the heath.
While never slow or ponderous (the company finds extraordinary moments of comedy throughout) the pace is measured; the company has found exactly the right rhythm. The production may run at 3h 40m, but it isn’t a minute too long.
Ian McKellen’s performance is remarkable. He makes bold choices and runs with them; his portrayal is often surprising yet it always seems he’s making the obvious choice. McKellen, I stress, doesn’t make the obvious choice, it’s just that when he does something, you can’t imagine it being done any other way, it feels so right.
His Lear’s in mighty good humour at the opening; a king delighting in what he’s about to do. He makes his formal speech – but then his vanity takes him ‘off text’ to ask his daughters how much they love him. The journey begins here. During the battering rain of the storm, when others might open up and rail against the elements, this man closes down, he is vulnerable, he draws us to him as we share his plight. Finding someone else worse off than himself (Poor Tom), the King gently covers him with his coat; a moment of searing beautiful humanity.
Lear’s mad heath scene has a lightness of touch that lifts our spirit – we are journeying out of the darkness; Lear’s clarity at the end of the scene is a welcome as the bright summer sun.
McKellen’s is a great performance. And this is also a strong company. William Gaunt’s Gloucester is much to be admired; his portrayal is elegantly understated, there is a strong sense of a character left from an earlier, more just time. Sylvester McCoy creates a Fool in this production’s Victorian setting that’s firmly rooted in Music Hall. The Fool’s ability to speak ‘the truth’ has a real danger attached to it in McCoy’s performance; he frequently over-steps the mark and people around him are nervous. We see this Fool hanged; he approaches death with an unsettling sense of inevitability; he speaks against injustice but we sense he comprehends his own ineffectiveness in this dark world.
King Lear: Ian McKellen
Goneril: Frances Barber
Regan: Monica Dolan
Cordelia: Romola Garai
Duke of Albany: Julian Harries
Duke of Cornwall: Guy Williams
King of France: Ben Addis
Duke of Burgundy: Peter Hinton
Earl of Kent: Jonathan Hyde
Earl of Gloucester: William Gaunt
Edgar: Ben Meyjes
Edmund: Philip Winchester
Lear’s Fool: Sylvester McCoy
Oswald: John Heffernan
Curan: Seymour Matthews
A Gentleman: David Weston
Knights: Adam Booth, Richard Goulding
Lady in Waiting: Zoe Boyle
A Servant: Adam Booth
1st Gloucester Servant: Russell Byrne
2nd Gloucester Servant: Melanie Jessop
A Messenger: Richard Goulding
A Captain: Peter Hinton
A Doctor: Russell Byrne
A Soldier: Gerald Kyd
A Maid: Naomi Capron
Directed by: Trevor Nunn
Designed by: Christopher Oram
Lighting Designed by: Neil Austin
Music Composed by: Steven Edis
Sound Designed by: Fergus O'Hare
Fights by: Malcolm Ranson
Assistant Director: Gemma Fairlie
Music Director: Jeff Moore
Associate Designer: Morgan Large
Dialect Coach: Penny Dyer
Company Voice Work by: Lyn Darnley
Casting by: Sam Jones
2007-06-02 13:11:27