RSC Friends

Photograph by Ellie Kurtz.

The play opens with the mute presence of the ragged homeless who, like ghosts are dispersed by the rich, dark panoply of Lear’s court. The wealthy and powerful are preoccupied with the king’s abdication and the opportunities it presents for personal advancement meanwhile the silent suffering of the people provides an unsettling and recurring leitmotif.

Lear is now a king without authority, hanging on to the trappings of kingship by touring his abandoned kingdom with a hundred ‘riotous knights’, (a good twenty or so are present on stage). Like a rugby team on tour they are egged on in their boorish behaviour by Lear’s fool, the excellent Graham Turner.One cannot help but experience some brief sympathy with duplicitous Goneril, her father’s reluctant hostess.

Antony Sher’s consummate skill as an actor takes us on a roller coaster ride of great emotional intensity as the King comes to terms with the realities of his nominal sovereignty without influence or power. The dark forces and intent that this void unleashes are unflinchingly portrayed, in the scenes where Edgar is exiled and Gloucester is blinded, are both remorseless and terrifying.

It is invidious to single out individual performances,as the whole cast share in the creation of this bleak and powerful masterpiece. Sets and costumes convincingly evoke a dark, pre Roman world. Music and lighting combine to produce a terrifying storm scene and add depth and definition to the crepuscular kingdom.

This is bleak and sobering play that resonates strangely with the present time. The audience was deeply moved and were wholehearted in its appreciation of Greg Doran’s excellent production.