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Lear

 
Joy Watters Review by Joy Watters 4 Published: 11 Jul 2026 Pitlochry Festival Theatre Show Dates: 4 Jul 2026-1 Aug 2026

Director Finn den Hertog’s adaptation of Shakespeare’s tragedy is a new, darker, more visceral, modern-day take on the tale of both the fall of majesty and the destruction of families by greed. It is no longer King Lear as the wonderful Maureen Beattie takes centre stage as Queen Lear, about to relinquish her lands and power. The directorial approach also cuts through the centuries from ancient Britain to the here and now. Its portrait of a leader who is losing their mind and demanding adulation is just one element of contemporary resonance in the production.

Beattie captures the descent from majesty to nothing.

Lear bustles on to the stage looking like an amalgam of today's powerful women – think Thatcher and Hillary Clinton – to relinquish her kingdom. The setting is a stately home being stripped of its decorations while the royals and attendants are in gilets and the girls in velvet hairbands and jodhpurs (design: Emma Bailey).

The Queen is dividing up her kingdom in dictator mode, demanding her three daughters toady up to her in a revolting display of obsequiousness.

The two elder daughters, Goneril and Regan (Jenny Hulse and Lindsey Campbell), are delighted to oblige, while the youngest, Cordelia (Ailsa Davidson), sticks to the truth and is banished.

Hulse and Campbell both relish their portrayals of evil personified. Den Hertog chooses to bolster their clearly vile natures through their performances, to the point that Regan now partakes in horrendous maiming rather than encouraging it from the sidelines.

The ensemble of 10 cohere flawlessly to drive the piece to its tragic conclusion.

It is an intriguing production. Whether the shift from King to Queen succeeds is for the audience to decide. Relentlessly dark – literally and metaphorically – the sense of foreboding is ever-present. It is further underpinned by the melancholy soundscape (Mark Melville), with pipes played by Brìghde Chaimbeul.

The benefit of introducing a Queen is that the audience is treated to seeing a top actress at her best, as Maureen Beattie scarcely leaves the stage. With a wealth of experience, she captures the gamut of emotions, from imperious to pathetic.

There are moments that feel strikingly contemporary in Lear’s downfall. Cast out by her two daughters, she is brought on in a wheelchair in pyjamas, a picture of the powerlessness of old age that still resonates. Beattie captures the descent from majesty to nothing in a heartbreaking performance, from stentorian shouting to a pathetic whisper.

Forbes Masson, as Gloucester, is a seasoned Shakespearean actor clearly relishing the lines while imbuing them with a perfect understanding of a man brought down by his blindness to the nature of his sons.

A new production of the Bard is always to be welcomed, and full marks to the theatre in the hills.

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The Blurb:

In this bold new imagining of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy, Scottish theatre legend Maureen Beattie takes on the towering role of the monarch whose decision to test her daughters’ love unravels both family and kingdom. A thrilling story of pride, folly and misplaced trust.

A powerhouse of Scottish talent breathes vivid life into the tragedy, featuring Forbes Masson as Gloucester, Lear’s fiercely loyal yet doomed courtier.

Directed by Finn den Hertog, following his acclaimed West End production of The Fifth Step and designed by award-winning designer Emma Bailey (Six The Musical; Sunset Song) whose award-winning designs have been seen around the world.

Lear is a visceral exploration of power, legacy and family, brought to the stage by some of Scotland’s most celebrated artists.