KING LEAR: Shakespeare, Almeida at King's Cross, To 20 April

KING LEAR: William Shakespeare
Almeida Theatre Company: King's Cross: Tkts 020 7359 4404
Runs: 3h 10m, one interval, to 20 April 202
Review: Vera Lustig, 23 February

Superficial, noisy, gimmicky and ultimately unmoving revival of arguably the greatest play ever written
Shakespeare tucks into the generous, yet fine-textured folds of Lear a message to directors yet unborn: 'striving to better, oft we mar what's well' – a warning Jonathan Kent has, sadly, ignored. Given his excellent track record, this production, excitable rather than exciting, is a huge disappointment. It does justice neither to Shakespeare's breadth of vision, nor to his microscopic view of human behaviour. Shakespeare's masterpiece cowers in the looming shadow of flash-bang-wallop-what-a-picture effects seemingly inspired by Stephen Daldry's audacious AN INSPECTOR CALLS, which lent a new meaning to 'bringing the house down'.

As in the Priestley, text and performance are subordinated to expressionistic pyrotechnics, with a top-drawer cast, including David Ryall, doing good-enough work in competition with the scenic sound and fury. The storm is Kent's piece de resistance: as torrential rain falls, the wood panels of the set shudder and topple, even the auditorium walls gape.

The acting is generalised. Oliver Ford Davies's gargling rant is a far cry from his troubled cleric in Hare's RACING DEMON. Nancy Carroll's Cordelia, shouty in defiance of her despotic father, makes a lie of his final lament: 'Her voice was ever soft,/ Gentle and low, an excellent thing in woman'. Tom Hollander is an arresting if under-explored Edgar: degenerating from bookish nerd to filthy, shivering outcast.

There are some interesting moments: this is a thoroughly modern monarchy – Lear's testing of his daughters' love is televised. He smashes a mirror with a lamp torn from its socket; the darkness/blindness metaphor is extended when Gloucester's tormentors shove a lampshade over his eyeless head. But placing Cordelia in a window like a stained-glass saint when she reappears in France, and later lighting her with a halo, usurps the actor's role.

The production does finally achieve a shred of dignity, with Paul Jesson as the Earl of Kent, all passion spent, preparing to follow his master. I felt I had journeyed too, but on a whirlwind coach tour.

Cast:
Earl of Kent: Paul Jesson
Earl of Gloucester: David Ryall
Edmund: James Frain
King Lear: Oliver Ford-Davies
Goneril: Suzanne Burden
Cordelia: Nancy Carroll
Regan: Lizzy McInnerny
Duke of Albany: Paul Shelly
Duke of Cornwall: David Robb
Duke of Burgundy: Richard Trinder
King of France: Lex Shrapnel
Edgar: Tom Hollander
Oswald: David Sibley
Fool: Anthony O'Donnell
Knight: Darren Greer
Curan: Hugh Simon
Old Man: Sam Beazley
Gentleman: Paul Benzing

Director: Jonathan Kent
Design: Paul Brown
Lighting: Mark Henderson
Music: Jonathan Dove
Sound: John A Leonard

2002-03-14 20:38:13