Lear is Dead (Nine Years Theatre) @ Drama Centre Theatre
July 28, 2021
What are we doing when we commemorate the dead, when we tell the stories of our leaders after they have gone? Nelson Chia’s reimagining of King Lear for Nine Years Theatre from 2018 (made available to World Shakespeare Congress delegates) asks as much of the storytellers as of those whose story is being told. In doing so, the …
King of Texas (Hallmark) (DVD)
December 21, 2020
Among the many Western adaptations of King Lear, King of Texas is one of the straightest, acknowledging the debt in its opening credits, and casting Patrick Stewart as John Lear, head of one of the largest cattle ranches in the newly independent Republic of Texas And yet, while it mostly follows the plot points (and often the dialogue, appropriately …
King Lear @ Münchner Kammerspiele (webstream)
April 6, 2020
Thomas Melle’s 2019 reworking of King Lear picks up on the play’s promise of radical change and generational conflict to offer an engaged, if somewhat depressing, critique of a self-consuming society. Under Stefan Pucher’s direction, and across an unbroken two hours-and-change, Münchner Kammerspiele take the implications of a mediatised world and populist politics to their logical extremes, allowing …
King Lear @ The BBC
June 13, 2018
Richard Eyre is quite well-represented in the category of made-for-TV films of King Lear; he directed the screen version of his own National Theatre production back in 1998 and now, twenty years later and with a more substantial budget, he directs a rare one-off television film. That budget doesn’t particularly register in the cramped sets, …
Lear/Cordelia (1623 Theatre Company) @ Derby Theatres Studio
November 20, 2016
1623 Theatre’s latest production was one of their most ambitious to date: a one-act adaptation of King Lear followed by a new response play, Farrah Chaudhry’s Cordelia, with an accompanying set of workshops, talks and resources designed to link the play to dementia support and broader accessibility. On the evening I saw it, a huge …
King Lear (Northern Broadsides) @ West Yorkshire Playhouse
April 12, 2015
A collaboration between great guest director and great company can create really wonderful work. The last time I saw a production by Jonathan Miller, it was his wonderful Hamlet at the Tobacco Factory, the first time that company had been directed by someone other than Andrew Hilton. And Northern Broadsides are always a joy to …
King Lear (National Theatre/NT Live) @ The Broadway, Nottingham
May 2, 2014
This is the second time NT Live has broadcast a version of King Lear. The first, back in 2011, was the Donmar’s extraordinary pared-down version starring Derek Jacobi, drawing its power from the intimate, bare set and performances that utilised whispers to wonderful effect. By contrast, Sam Mendes’ new production for the Olivier was an …
King Lear (Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory) @ The Tobacco Factory, Bristol
March 4, 2012
Writing about web page http://sattf.org.uk/currentfutureproductions/kinglear2012.html With only one Shakespeare play in this year’s Tobacco Factory season (the company are putting on The Cherry Orchard in place of a second), SATTF director Andrew Hilton has chosen to go back to the play that launched the company twelve years ago. Continuing the work of last year’s similarly …
King Lear (Donmar/NT Live) @ Warwick Arts Centre Cinema
February 4, 2011
Writing about web page http://www.donmarwarehouse.com/pl114.html Poor Paul Jesson. As Gloucester in Michael Grandage’s award-winning production of King Lear, last night he delivered one of the most powerful renditions of the Dover cliffs scene that I’ve ever been privileged to see. Accompanied by Gwilym Lee as Edgar, he shuffled across the bare bleached boards of the …
Discords (After Shakespeare) (Fail Better) @ Warwick Arts Centre Studio
January 24, 2011
It’s the tenth anniversary of Fail Better Productions, a company who I’ve been working alongside on and off for the last few years. Specialising in Becket, devised work and revivals (witness the excellent Play Without a Title), they’ve more recently been working with a student ensemble at Warwick on a devised piece, which received its …
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