King Lear @ The Shed

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The Play: King Lear; a fast-paced version of the classic tragedy about a monarch whose reckless decision to prematurely divide his kingdom among his daughters leads to the disintegration of his family and his own descent into madness, starring Kenneth Branagh and a group of recent graduates from London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts

Written by: William Shakespeare        Directed by: Rob Ashford, Kenneth Branagh and Lucy Skillbeck

One good thing: Branagh, who trained at RADA and served as its president from 2014 until stepping down earlier this year, makes only a so-so Lear but gets good mentor points for giving so many young actors the chance to appear in such a high-profile production, and a few of them—including Doug Colling as the virtuous nobleman Edgar and Saffron Coomber, giving off the vibes of a young Zoë Wanamaker in her feisty portrayal of Lear's middle daughter Regan—show true promise

One not-so-great thing:  Aggressively trimming the text so that the running time is about two hours might cause confusion for newcomers to the play, particularly since despite its good intentions, the overall production comes off as though it were a senior-class project at the kind of school where everyone, regardless of ability, had to be given a part

 

 


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