Reader Reviews
King Lear (Courtyard Theatre, Stratford-Upon-Avon)
Back to Show Details| Score | Comment | Date |
 | I have seen a few Lear's over the years, Timothy West and Oliver Ford-Davies sort of recently-ish! to name but two. McKellen, however, is in another league. He got inside the mind of the king and made his insanity palusible. At the curtain call he received a standing ovation from the, usually, conservative audience one gets at the RSCs HQ! He deserved it. I'll keep this brief, the production romped along making three and half hours appear a lot less. If it flagged anywhere it was, I'm afraid, with Sylvester McCoy's fool. He ought to have been a great fool, after all he looks the part! But unfortunately he failed to engage the audience so that many of his lines fell flat. Apart from that it is a triumph for Mr Nunn, and the great company he has had the good fortune to work with this year. - rds | 14 Jun 07 |
| Hurrah for McKellan and Nunn. One of the very few Lears whom I have been able to believe in, feel sorry for,angry with and also thoroughly frustrated with. Somewhat let down by "The Fool". I was pleased to see Melanie Jessop, who was excellent. - Ray Morris | 05 Jun 07 |
| I saw the first performance of Lear on 24 March and thought McKellan was the best Lear I have seen todate.Frances Barber was brilliant as Goneril and I enjoyed "The Fool" in Sylvester McCoy. the "Phantom" style opening was loud & exciting!! A great performance to see if you can get tickets!! - Janice Bancroft | 04 Jun 07 |
| Amazingly this lives up to the hype. So much was expected of this production that it was almost bound to fail to meet expectations, but this terrific cast deliver fully. I was a bit underwhelmed by Romola Garai's Cordelia, but that apart, it is terrific. McKellan, William Gaunt, Monica Dolan and Melanie Jessop in particular stand out. A thoughtful, straightforward production that lets the play speak for itself. Deeply moving and memorable. - Welthorpe | 01 Jun 07 |
| A very good production, and McKellen is excellent, though I found myself admiring his mastery of his art in a detatched way rather than believing he WAS Lear. It's a tragedy that the understudy - Melanie Jessop - wasn't reviewed as she was great in both this and The Seagull. The rest of the cast is first class (I'm sure this includes Emily's dad, if I knew which one he was!) with a wonderful William Gaunt a great Buckingham. - Gareth James | 01 Jun 07 |
| one of the laziest and most disappointing pieces of theatre you will get to see this year. the politics of the play is messed about, the family tragedy you don't care about. william gaunt bravely struggles to pronounce the lines, the other gnash, wail and grimace their way through the text. worst of the lot is edgar who sounds like a too fruity pam ayre. the most bewildering thing about it is that you can go and see exactly the same case and same production team deliver a perfectly goof seagull the day after (if you can forgive them for their disastrous lear). toxic. - Oswestrian | 22 May 07 |
| It must be superb!!! My dad's in it!!! - Emily | 02 May 07 |
| A really splendid performance. McKellen is magnificent and very well supported by an excellent cast One of the best Lears I have ever seen - Michael Finnis | 26 Apr 07 |
