King Lear Royal Shakespeare Company 1991-2016 and David Troughton connection

On Wednesday evening 11th October I saw my third Royal Shakespeare Company production of King Lear, this time in a Relay from Stratford at the Cineworld Bolden. The first occasion was a live performance at the Theatre Royal, Newcastle in 1991 as part of one of several seasons at which they also played at what is now the Northern Stage and before then some productions were at the Newcastle People’s Theatre.  Lear was played by John Wood but of more interest today Ralph Fiennes played Edmund and David Troughton as Kent and Alex Kingston as Cordelia. The play was also part of the 1994 season with Robert Stephens as Lear. Simon Russell Beale played Edgar and Cordelia Abigail McKern, the daughter of Leo, who played with him the last three episodes of Rumpole of the Bailey.

During the years when the RSC visited Newcastle for a long season with a broad mixture of Shakespeare. Old English dramas and comparatively modern plays often performed in a studio theatre environment as a family of four at times we were often in the second tier of the theatre unable to see any close ups of the actors/ No such restraints on Thursday where the cost was only £8.10 saving a similar amount through holding the unlimited card. Thus we were all able to appreciate the impressive performance of Anthony Sher as the King once powerful and strong decides to retire and divide his kingdom between his three daughters with the plan to also divide living with them. But instead of doing this in a straightforward way he attempts to find out who loves him best and this results in two of his daughters faking while the third Cordelia refuses to play and is honest and direct a kind of Jeremy Corbyn comes to mind, and does not get a share and marries the King of France who respects her integrity and does not mind the lack of wealth or power.

The story is complex with the theme that it is unwise to judge on just appearance so I focus on characters. The official Fool is an established form of entertainment although I usually find little humour in such characters except for their play on words and quick sharp barbed wit. In this play there comes a time when the King plays the fool and fool the King in terms of understanding what is happening.

Having divided his Kingdom between two of his daughters Lear finds that they refuse him bringing 100 men with him, then 50 and then 25 and he becomes effectively homeless and during a great storm with repeated shafts of lightning encounters Edgar the son of Gloucester playing a lunatic fool Tom O bedlam played convincingly by Oliver Johnston and he leads the King to temporary safety in a hovel. Edgar has been forced to go into hiding, disinherited by his father through the treachery of his illegitimate half-brother Edmund. Because Gloucester (played by David Troughton closing the circle with the 1991 production) helps the king he is blinded by the two sisters in an effective gruesome on stage event and he seeks to ends his life, especially when encountering the King and realising the state he is in. He is saved in every sense when Edgar finds him and stops playing the mad man.

It is during the second act that the world of the two sisters falls part because of competition for the love and attention of Edmund and all seems to promise a good story ending when Cordelia and her husband arrive at Dover to reclaim her role rightful role and Edgar goes to meet them to advise of what is happening. A battle takes place shown in the production as a back projection in silhouette and unfortunately Cordelia and the King lose and are taken prisoners but the two are reconciled and look positively about being together in prison. However, Edgar appreciates the likely treachery as the two sisters fall out and plan revenge on Cordelia and too late she dies, hung and cannot be revived by her distraught father.

By this time Edgar has fought a dual with Edmund and dispatched him. One of the sisters has poisoned the other and commits suicide thus the King is left childless although back in charge of his country, his friend Gloucester blind and Gloucester’s son and the Fool his trusted allies. The Dukes of Cornwall and Albany also vying for power through their marriages to the Kings daughters are out in the cold once more. There is a large cast for this production of some thirty doubled with the creative team. The musicians and those involved in the Live relay.

During the interval we are given insight into the wardrobe department, the design of the costumes and the beautiful and fragile lace upon lace dress worn by Cordelia in which she is not allowed to sit and which requires the utmost care. We learn that the robes are heated to remove accumulating odour and we learn that the RSC is to use Avatars and motion capture for its forthcoming production of the Tempest.  The Tempest will be shown live in cinemas on January 11^th 2017