RSC's King Lear

Ok, so I'm attending a conference in Stratford-Upon-Avon this week and was given the opportunity to pre-buy tickets to the Royal Shakespeare Company's production of Macbeth. I chose not to, thinking I may not be able to afford to eat if I did. Yesterday afternoon (the 20th) I decided I could afford it after all and was told that if I went to the theatre and queued I may be able to get return tickets. So, following the directions given by fellow attendees, I head for the theatre and duly queue for the return tickets. When one became available I headed to the counter to purchase it, only at this point realising that I was actually paying for a ticket for King Lear. Somewhat embarrassed and not wanting to admit my fault I paid for the ticket and then bought a programme. Well! Turns out Sir Ian McKellen was playing Lear and I had just scored myself one of the most sought after tickets in Stratford because last night was their last night in town. Tickets, I was told, had been selling for £200 on ebay and I paid a tenth of that! It was on at the Courtyard Theatre (which is where my mistake came in, Macbeth was on at the Swan, just round the corner). The Courtyard was a beautiful theatre and my seat was only 4 rows from the front of the stage and right next to one of the walkways. I could have tripped Sir Ian had I so chosen! It was a long production, but then King Lear is meant to be long and to be honest there was only a couple of scenes which seemed to drag. The show started at 7pm, due to its length, and finished at 11.30pm. The costumes were lavish, I would have taken on Cordelia for her stunning dress, if I thought I would actually fit into it. The set was basic, with any pieces needed being brought on by the mechanicals. The actors made use of the full stage (and it's huge) as well as the two walkways which run from the stage to the auditorium and out to the foyer. There's nothing like having a well toned actor, wearing only a loin cloth crouched in front of you :) The acting was . . . interesting. I mean that nicely, really! Some brilliant interpretations of the text and some . . . interesting ones. A stand out (and I will get to Sir Ian, I promise) was John Heffernan who played Oswald, Goneril's servant who fights with Kent. A brilliant example of what a talented actor can do with, what on paper seems like, a smaller role. Frances Barber as Goneril was also a highlight, showing such genuine emotion at the curses of her father that you could, almost, forgive her later actions. Monica Dolan, who played Regan, had one of the most interesting takes on the character I have ever seen. At first appearing more like a harmless lush who is lead by her sister, Dolan's Regan then becomes something much sinister. Her gleeful laughter and shrieks of delight as her husband plucks Gloucester's eyes from his head were chilling. Both Jonathan Hyde, as Kent, and Ben Meyjes, as Edgar, essentially had to play two roles. I felt that Hyde was more successful in this, his characters were so completely different in accent, stature and manner that it was like watching a completely different man. That being said, Ben Meyjes moved so brilliantly as Tom that it didn't matter so much that he didn't alter his voice for the role. I'm pretty sure that the actor has also had dance training and this shows. Romola Garai's Cordelia, for me, didn't work. She was just too emotional. This is not a criticism of the actress, who played the emotion brilliantly (standing right next to me, I could see the tears as they silently ran down her cheeks while she listened to her father curse and cast her out). The fault, I think, lies with the Trevor Nunn's direction. With so much angst at the start, poor Cordelia had nowhere to go when things got really bad. Philip Winchester as Edmund was an interesting one. There was nothing at all technically wrong with his performance, I just didn't buy it. He was trying, just that little bit too hard, to convince me that he was a villain. Still, the audience seemed to enjoy what he was doing, so the fault may lie with me :) Now, Sir Ian. What can I say? Within about a minute I forgot I was watching Gandalf (or Magneto, if you swing that way) and completely bought his Lear. The ease with which he slipped into the role is really an acting lesson in itself. He was so comfortable with the language, played it so naturally that I was enthralled. There was nothing predictable in his interpretation, you literally didn't know what he would do next. His death (sorry if I spoilt the end for anyone) was . . . interesting. At the time I didn't like the "Howl, howl, howl" scene, I felt it needed to be bigger, his grief stronger. Yet as he slowly slipped away (as if from a stroke, you could see his facial muscles start to go, then his body and finally he just stopped breathing) I realised that he was giving a performance of a man who had lost everything, his kingdom, his wits and finally his daughter. McKellen's Lear never regains his wits, he is mad right until the end and in the vein then delivery of "howl, howl, howl" fits perfectly. It's not often that I use the word genius, but there is no doubt that last night I got to witness genius at work. Oh and did I mention he gets naked? Anyway, that's enough from me. Sorry if I've rambled too much, I'm just still so energised by the performance :) Melissa Merchant PS Apparently the Macbeth wasn't that good anyway.