KING LEAR, Shakespeare, Eng Touring Theatre, coming to the Old Vic during Mar

Our Review at Malvern: This touring production comes to the Old Vic during March.

KING LEAR: William Shakespeare
English Touring Theatre: www.englishtouringtheatre.co.uk
Runs: 3h 5m, one interval, tours till 14th December
Review: Rod Dungate, Malvern Theatres, 23 September 2002

Clear, strong, accessible, engrossing: Timothy West is powerful and magical.
A muscular, sparse production. In Neil Warmington's minimal settings (a raised wooden platform, place suggested by single images that fly in and out a moon, turbulent rain, waves): for the most part, colours, too, are selected from a narrow range. Add to this Olly Fox's stark score and the production is reminiscent of Japanese theatre. Director Stephen Unwin focuses the play (rightly) on the actors and he is well served.

Lear, Gloucester, Kent (Timothy West, Michael Cronin, Garry Cooper) are a strongly masculine trio leading the story this ought to be a man's world.

Timothy West's Lear is a big, bluff, no-nonsense king he carries his authority without effort. Dividing up his kingdom at the opening is almost a game: he plays it to tease his daughters and amuse himself, feeding an arrogance he doesn't perhaps know he has. Until Cordelia refuses to go along with it, that is. West's outbursts, as the play moves on, are powerful but his quiet moments are truly magical. His scene with blinded Gloucester on the heath, his scene with Cordelia as he wakes are beautiful. As we watch him, holding our breath to catch what he says, he draws not only us into the action, but also the other characters. It is as if a shell falls from Lear revealing the true man inside the king: and however quiet the actor gets, in West's performance, we don't miss a syllable.

But this isn't a man's world, of course. For a time, at least, Regan, Goneril and Cordelia call the shots (Jessica Turner, Catherine Kanter, Rachel Pickup). Goneril and Regan appear almost slight inside their formal dresses: Turner and Kanter play their cruelty with a reasonableness that captures both the Shakespearian and the modern and is all the more insidious for it. There is an exciting tension between their regal exteriors and the power hungry and sexual drives beneath.

Stephen Unwin, understanding the requirements of touring, has made a great virtue out of necessity this is a clear, strong completely accessible and engrossing production.

King Lear: Timothy West
Goneril: Jessica Turner
Regan: Catherine Kanter
Cordelia: Rachel Pickup
Earl of Kent: Garry Cooper
Duke of Albany: Patrick Drury
Duke of Cornwall: Christopher Campbell
Earl of Gloucester: Michael Cronin
Edgar: Nick Fletcher
Edmund: Dominic Rickhards
The Fool: David Cardy
King of France: Andrew Fallaize
Duke of Burgundy: Robert Styles
Oswald: Grant Gillespie
Gentleman: David Glover

Director: Stephen Unwin
Set Designer: Neil Warmington
Costume Design: Mark Bouman and Neil Warmington
Lighting: Bruno Poet
Original Composition: Olly Fox
Fights: Terry King
Sound: Duncan Chave

2002-09-24 10:44:11