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Latest items? Unedited? Fringe Report Uncut
King Lear
Verdict: Betrayal, violence & despair
King Lear is a financial adviser's nightmare. No-one seeing it is going to give assets to their children while alive (thereby generating fees for fund management, tax avoidance and trusts), or will a penny to them when dead (ditto), but certain to leave it all to charity (none of the above). It may be written by a man who's been dead four hundred years, but the bleak message of this depressing play may still bring warmth to incorrigible pessimists. It lasts just over 2 hours, plus interval, involving 12 actors.
Old King Lear goes mad and splits his kingdom between evil daughters Goneril and Regan, banishing loving daughter Cordelia to marriage with the King of France. Goneril and Regan turn against Lear. His plight is mirrored by loyal friend Gloucester's estrangement from loving son Edgar and evil son Edmund. The play moves towards the mutilation or destruction of the principle characters, while allowing for the final recapture for both Gloucester and Lear of love between parent and child.
The excellent Galleon Theatre Company delivers here a strong version of the play. They use Shakespeare's text combined with modern clothes, and there are spirited performances from each of the cast. It's directed with strength, and their version of King Lear seems authoritative and powerful.
Cast Credits (alpha order): Oliver Bradshaw - Lear. Grae Cleugh - Albany. Alice de Sousa - Goneril. Anna Fiorentini - Regan. David Vaughan Knight - Cornwall. Barry Latchford - Gloucester. Alex Roberts - Cordelia. Patrick Ross - Burgundy, Oswald. Tom Stuart - Edmund. James Thomas - France, Fool, Curan. Mathew Ward - Kent. Jackson Wright - Edgar.
Company Credits: Costume Design & Construction - Rachel Baynton.
Deputy Stage Manager - Elizabeth Buckeridge. Assistant Stage Manager - Lisa Clare Ganley. Set Design & Construction - Liam Daniel Shea.
Production Assistants - Karolyn Desbuquois, Jo Hayes, Anna Ricciardi.
Lighting Design & Technical Management - Robert Gooch. Make-Up Consultant - Cindy Hopkins. Hair Consultant - Andrew Jon. Publicity Design - Alison Rayner. Stills Photographer - Paul LT Welch.
Director - Bruce Jamieson.
Producer - Alice de Sousa. Company - Galleon Theatre Company. Writer - William Shakespeare (1564-1616). Thanks: Rui Figueira, Steven Dykes, Dominique Pierre-Louis, Phil & Linda at Palace Theatre, Alistair Baxter.
Venue Credits: St Christopher's Inn: Manager - Darren. Greenwich Playhouse: Founding Directors - Bruce Jamieson, Alice de Sousa. Artistic Director - Alice de Sousa.
END
John Park
reviewed Thursday 22 January 04 / Greenwich Playhouse
Fringe Report (c) Fringe Report 2002-2011
www.fringereport.com
