King Lear

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.

Our Review:

3 March 2010

David Farr’s production of King Lear at the RSC is a masterpiece of theatrical fluency. Deftly coordinating the traverse from sanity to madness, the descent from king to vagrant, Lear’s interior journey from moral authority to an isolated landscape where he struggles for any kind of communion, this production embraces a wealth of theatrical possibility.

Jon Bausor’s stark yet complex staging reflects and illuminates the clashing of cultures and interests in the play, with costumes from different periods, including medieval furred gowns, a crown of celandines, WW1 uniforms and a disturbingly random blue hospital gown. The uniting feature of the costumes is their dark simplicity, suggesting that whatever the trappings of period, the motivations of the characters persist.

The set itself is quasi-industrial with disintegrating masonry and broken windows. A powerful steel doorway is lowered from above for the threshold of Regan’s dominio...

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