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Synopsis King Lear divides his Kingdom between his daughters according to a declaration of their love for him. His eldest Goneril and Regan exaggerate their affection and inherit. His youngest daughter Cordelia speaks only the truth and is banished. So begins the tragedy of King Lear, whose dignity, sanity and finally life are torn from him by a self-seeking younger generation, ambitious for his power. What is love, what is madness, what is truth - Shakespeare explores these questions together with many others in King Lear, widely considered to be his greatest tragedy. This production will employ Renaissance staging and costume. Part of the Totus Mundus Season. Totus mundus agit histrionem is thought to have been the motto of the first Globe - 'The whole world is a playhouse'
After a flurry of Lear productions in modern dress, there’s a very old English theme to this production. Whether it’s Claire van Kampen’s haunting music (indeed, the songs are in Old English) or the greenery that dots the Globe’s open spaces, we’re reminded very much that this is a play that, of course, is set in a pre-Christian time and whose unremitting tragedy is a reminder that life is nasty, brutish and short and offers no glimpse of any Christian redemption. And if anyone has a romantic tendency to hark back to a vision of Merrie England, King Lear is always a hearty antidote to such views.
What I like about Dominic Drumgoole’s production is that draws on that yearning for a pastoral life - King Lear’s retinue could be blood brother’s to Duke Senior’s in the Forest of Arden – while emphasising the human tragedy. For example, we’re reminded that Edgar isn’t a lone beggar and that England was dotted with beggars who had been outcast from the society.
At the start, David Calder’s Lear is more like the merry uncle who cracks the jokes at parties with little sense of kingly pride; even when Cordelia says that she’ll not speak of her love for him, it’s treated more like a private family joke. However, his disintegration is swift and while there have been madder Lears (with deference to the Globe’s open spaces, Calder has eschewed the current trend of completely disrobing) there have been few more touching; there was a stunned silence when he appeared with the dead Cordelia – something that’s not too often heard at this theatre.
There’s an excellent Fool too from Danny Lee Wynter. He looks and acts like he should be playing Puck but it’s this impishness that makes a perfect counterpoint for Lear’s growing madness.
I liked Paul Copley’s hearty and dignified Kent and Kellie Bright’s Regan – blinding Gloucester herself in a state of almost sexual ecstasy. Unfortunately, rather too many of the other cast members fail to illuminate the stage meaning that great stretches of the evening fall rather flat – Calder’s performance certainly deserves better.
However, the Globe can be an unforgiving environment and I get the feeling that this is a production that will find its feet in time and will certainly be worth catching later in the run.
I wanted to see David Calder's Lear having so enjoyed his Shylock for the RSC at the Barbican a few years ago. I wasn't disappointed. I loved his jocular approach to dividing his kingdom, turning to dust and ashes when Cordelia refuses to play ball (not, apparently, realising the dire consequences) and he is as likeable a tyrant as I can remember. He's huge fun when evading his soldiers towards the play's end, and wonderfully moving when he finally comes. Danny Lee Wynter's Fool is more of a philosopher than a clown, Kelly Bright a memorably nasty Regan, Daniel Hawksford a handsome Edmund (but I've yet to see an actor make the utmost of this gift of a villain's role) while Trystan Gravelle can't be faulted as his brother. I couldn't see how the sombre ending (at least 5 corpses on stage) could develop into the Globe's traditional dance, but the trick is managed - Beric Norman
17 Jul 08
Well, this was my second visit to the Globe in as many years and it will not be my last. It is such a different theatrical experience. The buzz form the moment one arrives. The bustleling bars, the pie stands and drinks stalls gives a hint of the sort of madness that must have existed around the original Globe. However, we are not living in Elizabethan England, well not entirely, so many of the disadvantages of the Elizabethan stage unfortunatley dominate. Having said that this is a unique experience and one which I would whole heartedly recommend, but I think Lear is best left for a modern theatre, particularly when the actors are playing it as if they are in such a house. I had great difficulty hearing many of them and that is a No No when it comes to Shakespeare. An Elizabethan audience would have had a riot if they were subjected to whole tracts of dialogue being inaudible. We in contrast sat uncomplaining! Yet, I loved the falling daylight, the stage and the galleries becoming lit as the evening drew in. The cast worked so hard, luckily without rain last night, and well deserved the cheers from the clearly appreciative audience. But, and I know this sounds sacreligious, could we not have just a bit of subtle miking to lift their voices. I am sure Shakespeare would have jumped at it given the opportunity, but then he probably didn't need to because he had actors who could project their voices. A fine cast by any standards but Mr Shakespeare's Globe clearly sorts the men from the boys. - rds
A rebuild of Shakespeare's original Globe theatre close to the original site. Society of London Theatre member. Note: Booking opened March 3rd 1996. Tickets for performances range from £5 (standing in the yard) to £37.50 for the best gallery seats). Induction loop facilities. Wheelchair facilities. Extensive education programme. Restaurant, cafe and bar. Dark during the winter but the museum and venue remain open. One of the few London venues with Sunday performances. The Globe Theatre Season runs from April to October. The Globe Education Centre is located in Park Street and runs an educational autumn season.
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