King Lear, Crescent Theatre Review
Written by Charis for Theatre and Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
King Lear is a tragedy piece written by William Shakespeare in 1606. Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between his daughters Goneril and Regan, who pay homage to gain favour, feigning love forfeiting Cordelia. The piece revolves around the themes of family, loyalty deception, madness and power. This performance of King Lear was performed by Crescent Productions at the Crescent Theatre.
In the director’s welcome Jaz Davison stated that she wanted the production to have LGBT+ elements suggesting that characters were polyamorous, gay, trans or non-binary. This desire does not come through within the performance in the slightest. Reading the welcome and watching the performance feels like two very different shows.
Davison’s staging choices can be attributed to why this production unfortunately did not work out. The narrow Ron Barber performance space is difficult to light, which leads to moments where the cast is in the dark and random elements such as the floor or the audience are lit. The 3D immersive set-up with the performance in the middle with the audience on both sides was a strange decision. Characters come from four sides of the room and audience members find themselves needing to turn around constantly otherwise they cannot see the individual speaking. The choice to have actors speaking on the balcony to create some separation did not pay off either. The small stage in the middle makes the staging even more awkward and is often utilised randomly.
When it came to the actor’s speech it felt like they were simply reading the words rather than acting them. Shakespeare especially tragedies have a high emotive requirement which was lacking from this performance. It felt like the audience was attending a read-through rather than a performance. The cast did well to learn their lines and speak Shakespearian but unfortunately, it did not move past that. When actors were interacting with each other it felt like one was waiting for the other to speak. There was little to no chemistry between most of the characters.
Patrick Ryan did not manage to match the mental state and emotive energy the role King Lear requires. When the significant speeches from Lear were presented, it seemed that he was mumbling to himself especially in the storm scene or in the earlier lines about his disdain for Cordiella. He did manage to find some emotion for his performance in second half of the last scene but it was unfortunately too late by that point.
Lorna Rose as Goneril and Zoe Frances as Regan similarly could not quite find the right tone or emotion. Lines were shouted that required stern emotion which did not quite fit the bill.
Mike Venables as the Duke of Gloucester is one of the few actors who managed to understand the lines and put across an emotive performance. This is especially prevalent in the second act after Gloucester loses his eyesight. Similarly, Aaron Shelton puts across a strong performance as the venomous and cunning Edmund. The soliloquies performed by Shelton are strong and he can capture the audience alone. When Hannah Roche was present as the fool all audience eyes were on her and her strange fool like antics. She fully understood how to act the part and her portrayal and understanding of the lines were superb.
Costume within the performance was minimal with all characters in the King Lear performance in plain black with coloured sashes to represent their houses. Unfortunately, when coupled with the lack of staging the lack of Shakespearian costumes led to the piece feeling disappointing. The audience was unable to feel they had been transported and when compared to the spoken Shakespearian language the choice was unusual due to the stark contrast. Putting the background characters in a black hat with a face veil on was chosen in order to keep a small cast and fulfil all roles. However, the usage backfired rather than drawing attention away from those individuals it brought attention to them.
Overall, Crescent Production was ambitious but when faced with issues in every aspect of the production unfortunately it did not pay off. If anyone wishes to see King Lear it is playing at the Crescent Theatre until 30th November.
★★
