King Lear at the Tobacco Factory, Bristol (By Graham Burke)
By Max Boon
King Lear kicks off Shakespeare Season at the Tobacco Factory – with a confidence and aptitude that comes with twelve years of producing the Bard at the very top level.
Raw, poignant and powerful this portrayal of old age and madness is striking in its simplicity and weighty in its delivery. The low ceilings and intimate performance space of the Tobacco Factory Theatre increase the immediacy of the play and engulf the audience in a suffocating spiral of discredit and despair.
The play begins with King Lear notifying his three daughters that he will divide his kingdom of England between them, and requesting that they bid for their shares by proclaiming the depth of their love for him. His decision is already made, but his vanity desires their flattery.
When his favourite daughter Cordelia admits that her love is deep, but borne from her duty to him, he is angered and banishes her to France along with his faithful servant the Earl of Kent, who protests her innocence. England is divided between his remaining daughters Regan and Goneril, however now they have power they target his vulnerability and discredit his authority.
John Shrapnel as Lear is incredible. His arrogance and affability quickly turn into sorrow, despair and eventually madness, and he physically inhabits each mood with a total commitment and an unquestionable truthfulness.
The costumes are particularly effective; reflecting the pomp and ceremony of the old regime in the first act, but becoming increasingly modern and stripped back in the second. Seeing the once grand Lear in a string vest and dirty joggers is brutal and creates a rawness that is difficult to forget.
The play is long, at nearly three hours, but the pace is relentless throughout and the direction and performances are excellent. Jack Whitam as the conniving but playful Edmund is particularly engaging, and there are strong performances from Simon Armstrong as the Earl of Kent, Trevor Cooper as the Earl of Gloucester, and Christopher Bianchi as Lear’s Fool. However, Shakespeare of this quality can only be achieved with a real ensemble, and the whole company deserve great credit.
This is a traditional and simply staged production, but the strength is in the scenes; exchanges between Lear and Cordelia, Lear and Gloucester, and particularly the eye gouging of Gloucester by Cornwall are incredible to behold, and starkly believable.
The vanity of age is usurped by the arrogance of youth, before both fall to the selfishness of man. This excellent production encapsulates the anger, despair, bitterness and sorrow that make King Lear one of the greatest of Shakespeare’s tragedies.