Review: KING LEAR, Sheffield Theatres
It’s been a little while since the work of William Shakespeare was presented at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre and now it is back in a big way. They are staging two of Shakespeare’s most popular plays with, besides their leading men, one cast performing both. First up is King Lear, before Twelfth Night begins its run in October.
King Lear follows an aging king who splits his land between his daughters. Following some poor judgement all round, the eponymous King is outcast from his own kingdom, disowned by his daughters, and we see his descent into madness.
A production of King Lear relies on having an excellent actor in the leading role. In this production, staged in partnership with the Michael Grandage Company, Ian McDiarmid stars as Lear himself. It is an immense privilege to see such a celebrated actor on stage performing perhaps one of Shakespeare’s most challenging roles. McDiarmid is clearly completely at home in the world of Shakespeare - the language is completely natural to him and he lands every laugh in the midst of the misery.
Director Titas Halder must be praised for his work in finding moments of comedy amidst the otherwise quite harrowing play. This is essential in keeping the audience engaged. On the whole, Halder has staged the play well in the thrust setting and he has done a good job at leading his cast to create believable, human portrayals of their roles despite the language. The main downside to the direction is that, had your reviewer not had a knowledge of the plot in advance, it may have been very difficult to locate the action. This is not helped by Richard Kent’s set design, or lack thereof. For the most part, we’re on one static and quite non-descript set, which does mean the action moves at a good pace but it also means you have to work hard to keep up with where we’re supposed to be. Kent’s costume design is interesting - there is an intriguing blend of modern and period dress. It feels as though there is some symbolic meaning around it but it never quite resonates as it could do.
The production is stunningly lit by Ryan Day. His lighting design is incredibly atmospheric, elevated by Sarah Angliss’ composition and Emma Laxton’s sound design, although it doesn’t necessarily help to depict the different settings too much. Yarit Dor has done exceptional work as the Fight Director (they also serve as Intimacy and Movement Director). The fight sequences are entirely believable and just difficult enough to watch. The injuries appear real - gory but not too gory - credit to make-up artist Valerie Atkinson.
The cast appearing in both Shakespeare plays (McDiarmid only appears in King Lear and Matthew Horne joins for Twelfth Night) are brilliant on the whole. Mark Holgate has a lovely warmth as Kent and has a great chemistry with McDiarmid as Lear. Similar can be said of Max Revell as the Fool. Revell is a dancer by trade but he gives a remarkable acting performance here. Revell may be slightly younger than typical Fools, but he and McDiarmid create a beautiful father-son bond on stage, contrasting to the coldness Lear receives from his actual daughters. The poetic language that Shakespeare gives to the Fool (more poetic than the rest) is incredibly naturally delivered by Revell, and he also makes great use of his dance and movement ability, using his immense control of his body to aid the storytelling.
Katie Wimpenny gives a strong performance as Goneril, Lear’s eldest daughter - stoic whilst clearly holding back her emotions to maintain her position of power. Justina Kehinde plays Regan with great stage presence, although at times her characterisation comes across as overly villainous rather than calculated and manipulative. Bebe Sanders is delightful as Cordelia, the honest and truthful daughter. Her deep care for her father in later scenes brings a warmth to the bleakness - it’s just a shame we don’t get to see Sanders and McDiarmid work together more.
It would be easy for the secondary plot to feel like it’s unnecessary in an already very long play, but David Birrell, Harry Redding and Fode Simbo make their scenes feel completely fresh and thoroughly gripping. Birrell plays Gloucester and he plays the descent into madness, paralleling Lear’s journey, very well - he also plays blindness on stage very well which isn’t always executed believably. Redding is lovely as Edgar, giving a performance that is really quite impressive for someone so early in his acting career. His commitment to his disguise as Poor Tom is outstanding and full of intensity, and watching the relationship between Gloucester and Edgar ebb and flow is truly moving. Simbo delivers Edmund’s monologues perfectly. He lands the comedic opportunities expertly, whilst managing to be deceitful and manipulative but never overly villainous.
Sheffield Theatres’ production of King Lear is excellently performed which is what makes the almost three-hour running time fly by. It lacks, however, in production value, which could make the story difficult to follow for newcomers. For a show so epic in narrative scale, it feels as though the production itself needs to feel similarly epic.
*** Three stars
Reviewed by: Jacob Bush
King Lear runs at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield until 19 September, with further info here.
Photo credit: Johan Persson