King Gandalf (King Lear (Royal Shakespeare Company))

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Product:	King Lear (Royal Shakespeare Company)
Date:	15/06/07 (288 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: McKellen and McCoy show how it's done! Great set and effects

Disadvantages: Some of the support cast let the side down, seats can be uncomfortable!

Note:
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Let’s get one thing straight. I’m going to try and get through this review WITHOUT mentioning a certain fact relating to the lead actor that virtually every professional review I’ve read of this play seems to be obsessed with,

Having lived less than 20 miles of Stratford for 6 years, I felt I should finally drag myself off and see one of the Bard’s plays at his birthplace. I’m not the biggest Shakespeare fan, so to break my duck, I chose King Lear. The main attraction being that it starred Sir Ian McKellen - arguably the country’s finest living actor.

Venue
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First of all, a bit about the theatre. This production was in the Courtyard Theatre. At first glance it looks pretty much like any other theatre - a wide open entrance way populated by bars and programme and ice cream sellers. The actual performance area, however, is outstanding. Seats are arranged in a circular, tiered pattern, rising into a high funnel - much the same as theatres would have been in Shakespeare’s time. This gives a really intimate, yet still impressive feel, as the seats are right on top of the stage, set in the centre. This allows greater freedom to move around the stage and address different sections of the theatre (more on that later).

Unfortunately, this does lead to problems! Initially very comfortable, the seats are not actually that big and quickly become a pain in the backside (literally). If you have (how can I put this delicately?) a person of the larger persuasion next to you it can be a bit cosy! You may also find that your view is blocked at times by the person in front - and when this happens to your neighbour, they think it perfectly acceptable to block YOUR view by leaning in front of you! So, all told, a very nice theatre, but one which has partially compromised practicalities for aesthetics.

Anyway, enough about that. On with the show…

First off, make sure you are aware of the basic plot before you go, otherwise you’ll struggle to keep up. The initial key events are set up with almost undue haste, throwing you very much in at the deep end. By doing this, the production puts itself at a disadvantage, as it fails to build the emotional impact so vital to the story. There’s really no sense of love between Lear (McKellen) and his youngest daughter, Cordelia (Romola Garai). This seriously hamstrings events straight from the off: you don’t really care when she is disinherited within minutes of the start of the play.

Fortunately, this potential emotional chasm is more than adequately filled by Sir Ian McKellen, in a mesmeric performance. Throughout the course of the play, he undergoes pretty much every emotion known to man, and takes us with him on this emotional rollercoaster. Whether manic, sobbing, raging, laughing or defeated, it’s a superb, nuanced performance, brilliantly judged and memorably delivered. When he is brought on in a wheelchair at the end of the play, it is a truly tragic and desperate sight - exactly, I imagine, as Shakespeare wanted us to feel at this point.

Of course, if this were purely McKellen’s performance, it would be little more than a vanity project (and in truth, at times it does smack a little of that). However, he is ably supported. Perhaps most surprising is Sylvester McCoy as Fool. Like McKellen, the former Dr Who gives a balanced, nuanced performance as an intelligent, capable and caring character. His Fool clearly loves his master and would do anything for him, and McCoy conveys this perfectly. Of course, being the Fool, he is also responsible for some of the performance’s lighter moments, played out in a memorable fashion.

Jonathan Hyde is also hugely watchable as Kent - filling the stage with real presence whenever he is on. Ben Meyjes also turns in a good performance as loyal son Edgar - particularly when on the brink of madness.

Some of the other characters fare less well, and this is particularly true of the female cast. The two “evil” sisters, Goneril and Regan (Frances Barber and Monica Dolan) feel very forced in their delivery and, at times, look surprisingly ill-at-ease. They lack the subtlety of McKellen and McCoy and occasionally are in serious danger of veering off into pantomime villain territory. One, in particular, makes so made so many hand gestures with every speech that I thought there was a real chance she might take off!

Romola Garai is weak as Cordelia and has the annoying habit of leaning forward every time she spoke - giving the general impression of a slightly earnest field mouse. Weak voiced and slight, you certainly never believe her capable of leading men on a mission to save her father.

The staging of the play is very good. The full length and width of the performance area is used to great effect, allowing a real sense of space and giving the actors the opportunity to address all parts of the audience. The downside, unfortunately, is that, due to the circular nature of the stage, at some points the actors have their backs to you, which makes it difficult to hear, thanks to the acoustics.

Effects are limited, but highly effective, both subtle and spectacular. The scenery starts off grand and impressive before falling into disrepair and decay, reflecting Lear’s descent into madness. A spectacular thunderstorm is convincingly brought to life, complete with torrential, thunder and lightning, ultimately resulting in the collapse of part of the set. The hanging sequence is well staged too.

One disappointing aspect was the swordfights. I fully understand that you cannot recreate on stage the sort of fights we are used to seeing on screen. They take months of training, clever editing and camera work. Even so, the swordfights were cumbersome, unconvincing and lacking excitement. Crucially, this meant you didn’t really care about the outcome and so lacked any kind of emotional punch.

Conclusion
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If you’re looking for a first class performance of King Lear, this latest interpretation may leave you a little disappointed, as it lacks the emotional impact the story should carry. If, on the other hand, you are interested in an acting master class from McKellen, then buy those tickets now!

There you go. An entire review written without once mentioning the fact that Ian McKellen shows the audience his *ahem* “wizard’s staff”. See, it can be done.

Oh… DAMN!

More information
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King Lear is on at Stratford until 22 June, after which it goes on a world tour. It returns to the UK from 12 November for a limited run in London. More information on the play can be found at: http://www.rsc.org.uk/onstage/plays/3533.aspx, whilst details of venues for the world tour are available from: http://www.rsc.org.uk/WhatsOn/1215.aspx#us

Summary: Without McKellen and McCoy, this would be Much Ado About Nothing