KING LEAR
*****
Photo credit: Mark
Douet
Simon Russell Beale – King Lear, Adrian Scarborough - The Fool
Adrian Scarborough - The Fool
Anna Maxwell Martin – Regan, Simon Russell Beale – King Lear
Kate Fleetwood – Goneril, Anna Maxwell Martin – Regan, Simon Russell Beale – King Lear
Kate Fleetwood – Goneril, Anna Maxwell Martin – Regan
Kate Fleetwood – Goneril, Sam Troughton - Edmund
THEY say power corrupts
and in Sam Mendes' terrific production of King Lear at the National's
Olivier stage, this can be seen very clearly.
The central themes of
the play - love, power, greed, control and madness - are brilliantly
conveyed in this production which has been brought up to date by
giving it a modern day setting.
Set against a granite
coloured backdrop with dark clouds racing across a grey sky it starts
with a bang as Lear marches into his enormous room with a huge
entourage, to divide up his Kingdom.
Sitting with his back
to the audience he addresses his three daughters, speaking into a
microphone, and asks how much they love him.
Goneril and Regan
oblige by telling him what he wants to hear but the youngest, his
favourite Cordelia, is having none of it and refuses to tow the line.
As Lear rages against
her, overturning the huge tables, it marks the disintegration of the
state, family, loyalties, friendships and Lear's mind - something
which he can see only too well.
Simon Russell Beale is
mesmerising as the dictator King, a shaven-headed control freak,
desperate for affirmation from all those around him and yet knowing
he is slipping into the cruel world of dementia.
For a man of short
stature he gives a towering performance moving seamlessly from a
tyrant of a man who bullies and rebukes anyone and everyone to one
who is so vulnerable and knows not what he is doing, much less what
is going on around him.
This is proved when he
and the Fool - a fantastic performance from Adrian Scarborough -
undertake a humorous mock trial of Lear's two elder daughters only
for Lear to turn in an instant and bludgeon the Fool to death in the
bath.
Throughout, Russell
Beale proves, if there was any doubt at all, that he is one of this
country's finest actors. It is quite simply a superb performance.
He is supported by a
stellar cast. Anna Maxwell Martin as Regan is sexy and kittenish as
she sashays seductively around the stage using her feminine wiles.
High on adrenaline and the acts of evil going on around her, her
reaction to the horrifically staged eye gauging of Gloucester is a
fantastic piece of acting.
Her sister Goneril is
played with icy steeliness by Kate Fleetwood, another woman who will
do whatever it takes and is not afraid of betraying anyone who stands
in her way.
Sam Troughton is
utterly convincing as the evil Edmund, the bastard son who wreaks
revenge on his father, Gloucester, and step brother Edgar. Eyes
bulging, it is as if he too is going mad with desire to destroy his
family.
At three and a half
hours long it is not for the fainthearted - it is an intense story
and there are some gruelling scenes which left me emotionally
drained. But this is theatre at its best and should not be missed.
King Lear is on at the
National Theatre's Olivier stage until May 28. Tickets from £12.
Call the box office on 020 7452 3000.
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