Act One is a company full of high quality actors, all of whom were captivating to watch. However, the problem with the production lay at its very premise. The adaptation was confused and the modernization of Shakespeare incomplete. We are supposedly in post-apocalyptic Britain, but this is not clear at all. At the beginning, I was led to believe the story had been brought into the present day, with the modern costumes and the fake letter from Edgar to Gloucester received on a Blackberry. But as the play continued and communication returned to letter, the intention became obscure. I felt a disparity between the biker chick fashion and the feel of the play, which was still castles and servants and dungeons. A viewer who had not researched the company would not have known what time period we were in, let alone that Lear leads a gang of apocalypse survivors in a city controlled by criminals. This confusion led to a somewhat jittery and staccato progression through the production, and limits its strength.
The adaptation had some strong qualities, such as the way various lines, quotes, and scenes from King Lear were used as metaphors for today’s ‘Broken Britain.’ The stage is hung with ruined bunting, while a torn Union Flag drapes a chair and another hangs on the wall behind the audience. Lawrence Dixon plays a strong Edmund-as-chav character, with his soliloquy taking on some rap music qualities as he bemoans his bastardization – a speech that sounds eerily relevant to what has become known as the ‘demonization of the working class.’
Strongest of all was the stage presence of the cast. They had deep understandings of their characters and were highly engaging in their portrayal. James Davies plays an occasionally shouty King Lear whose descent into madness is nonetheless tragic, although an implied addiction to drugs is never developed, leading to more confusion. Ségolène Scheur and Felicity Box were brilliantly repulsive as Goneril and Regan, while Ellie Hepworth’s Fool stole the stage with her creeping insanity. Stage combat has clearly been well rehearsed, and the entire cast has a clear awareness of their set and space, never dropping character. Their power is especially noticeable during group scenes. On stage all together, they are equally as forceful as each other. Act One’s rendition of King Lear is ambiguous, but is performed with great class and flair by actors of a high quality who deserve to be seen.
