A descent into madness, characters stripping naked, eyes being clawed out – the events of Shakespeare’s King Lear aren’t exactly relatable. In fact, to an audience of Oxford students used to tutorials and Tinder, they might seem downright unbelievable (depending on your average Friday night).
However, director Alex Bridges’ medieval adaptation isn’t looking to be relatable. Root Ginger Productions’ King Lear is larger than life – and wants you to know it. With a cast of die-hard actors, this adaption takes the horror of the play head on, adding a sprinkle of theatricality and a dash of humour so dark it could rot the lungs.
King Lear tells the story of an aging monarch who divides his kingdom between the two daughters who flatter him and abandons the one who truly loves him. Shut out by the daughters in power, King Lear ends up stuck in a storm, losing his grip on reality. His loyal daughter returns with an army to fight for him, but they fail, and in the resulting bloodbath, nearly everyone dies.
From the moment you sit down, you know this production will strip the story back to its raw, human elements. The stage is empty, except for a stunning throne tied together from real twigs and branches. This is a wild world; only the fittest can survive. Regan (Georgina Cotes), one of Lear’s disloyal daughters, clearly thinks this, when she insultingly declares “nature” is at the “edge” of its bounds in her aging father.
In fact, this production is deeply concerned with aging. While Scott Burke’s stage makeup may require a leap of faith, his portrayal of King Lear’s increasingly feeble body is utterly convincing. Meanwhile, his daughter Goneril (Antonia Anstatt) uses that subtly patronizing ‘old people tone’ to chilling effect. Against this, it is King Lear’s acceptance of his age that creates the most tender moments in this tragic story.
What delights me is King Lear’s sickening comedy. We feel the wonderfully inappropriate innuendo of Edmund’s (George Loynes) “The younger rises when the old doth fall”. The actors relish the bizarre obviousness of the Shakespearean dialogue, from Regan’s “O sir, you are old,” to the newly blinded Gloucester’s (a striking Rowan Brown) “Alack, I have no eyes.” The wonderfully vicious Kent (Emily Porter Siegel) flails in the stocks. Like an uninvited guest, humour bursts in and keeps us on our toes. However, the comic soul of the play is the Fool, portrayed as a dancing coquette by Hafeja Khanam. She makes a fool out of everyone – not least the king. In an unforgettable moment, after comparing a king’s crown to half a boiled egg, Khanam eats a real egg on stage. Need I say more?
Altogether, Root Ginger’s King Lear is a swords-out Shakespearean tragedy. It is packed with colour, energy and terrifyingly believable screams. If you take that first leap of faith, you won’t regret it.
If you’re not sold already, I think Shakespeare’s Birthplace Trust says it all. “King divides kingdom, snubs daughter, goes mad, there’s a storm, and everyone dies.”
[King Lear, staged by Root Ginger Productions, is running at the Keble O’Reilly, 5th-8th March]