[theatre] King Lear, National Theatre, 18-May-14

the world ...
keeps our fortunes from us till our oldness cannot relish them

Simon Russell Beale's Lear -- at first a proud dictator -- rages at his own infirmity: over the course of the play, he's increasingly stooped by illness and age. His mood swings alarmingly from fury to repentance. His body language (slow shuffling steps, left fist clenched helplessly behind him) is exactly that of an old man who's suffered a stroke. He's losing his faculties: fails to recognise his beloved Cordelia, seems to hallucinate. As the play progressed it was increasingly easy (and upsetting) to see my father there on stage...

Adrian Scarborough was tremendous - comic one moment, bitingly critical the next -- as The Fool: Sam Troughton was a suitably slippery Edmund, whose bravado mutated into something more malicious. I was most impressed, though, by Tom Brooke's Edgar - vulnerability and nobility -- though some of the character's actions seem unnecessarily cruel.

The staging was great: roiling night storms in the background, use of the circular stage to reference the wheel of fortune (an image that weaves through the text of the play).

I note I haven't mentioned the three sisters. Regan (Anna Maxwell Martin) and Goneril (Kate Fleetwood) were distinct from one another, exasperated by their enfeebled father, way too sexual to be anything but villains. Cordelia (Olivia Vinall) was brave, tragic and steadfast.

National Theatre: King Lear (until 3rd July 2014)