AMAZING, IN CAPITAL LETTERS
As I sat down in my plush theatre seat, tucking my kiddy school bag under my legs, I suddenly felt very small.
What: King Lear
Where: National Theatre, SE1
When: 23rd January to28th May
Price: Various
As I sat down in my plush theatre seat, tucking my kiddy school bag under my legs, I suddenly felt very small. Everything about the evening ahead of me seemed designed to dwarf me: the cavernous Olivier theatre, the word famous director Sam Mendes of American Beauty fame, the BAFTA winning Simon Russell Beale in the main role and, of course, the play itself-_ King Lear._ More than 400 years old, it has been performed in all the major theatres on the globe and has been interpreted by the greatest actors in Britain, both on stage and on screen.
So it was with trepidation that I leant back in my seat for the three hour performance. And, almost immediately, I forgot my qualms as I became enveloped in a complex, dark and captivating world.
For those of you who are struggling to remember which of the many Shakespeare plays _King Lear _is let me give you a quick lowdown. Lear, King of Britain, is getting old so decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters based on how much they love him.
The eldest two (think Ugly Sisters from Cinderella) start proclaiming their love, while Cordelia, the youngest, answers honestly but with no exaggerations, stating that she loves him as a daughter. Lear gets angry, disowns Cordelia and send her off, penniless, to marry the king of France. The Ugly Sisters pop off to enjoy their new kingdoms, refusing to host their dad and all his rowdy knights. Lear’s slightly losing the plot by now so he strops around having fights with everyone and ends up falling out with all three of his daughters and many of his close friends. Not good. Add to this a side-plot of the Earl of Gloucester being tricked into disowning his son on the advice of his illegitimate son and you’ve got quite a lot to be going on with.
The beauty of this production is that at no point you’ll be scratching your head wondering who’s who and what is actually happening. Mendes has created a seamless production- a perfect production. The stage set is minimal but effective, creating a dark world which gradually disintegrates under civil and international war.
Playing on the strong 20th century imagery of refugees and military dictatorships, stage designer Anthony Ward uses the vast Olivier theatre to its full potential, with groups of soldiers and civilians tramping around wearily with suitcase and sleeping bags throughout the performance, helicopters and military planes roaring overhead.
The cast is amazing. Am I allowed to use capitals for that? It’s AMAZING. It’s so rare to see a cast in which every single character is strong and real and doesn’t over dominate the stage. Russell Beale is an outstanding Lear: despotic in his military, unpredictable manner but touching in his self-aware ageing. He creates a Lear that we can all relate to, the dementia ridden old man, refusing to give in to his age.
But Mendes again works his magic by making this production a snapshot of life, rather than a play about a man. You will witness the unravelling of a State, a court and a family, with the effects this has on every person involved. And in the three hours betrayal, madness, age, loss, poverty and homelessness will dominate the stage, with faithfulness, filial love and forgiveness fleetingly counterbalancing the scenes.
From its origins, this is what theatre has been all about. Bringing life, a life you cannot or might not want to experience, to a place where you can do so fleetingly - the stage.
Here you’ll experience a dark, war-revenged, gory world full of death and betrayal but you will experience it so incredibly vividly that as you make your way along the South Bank on leaving the theatre you’ll blink, amazed, at the happy, shiny London that meets your eyes.
