Shakespeare’s mad monarch takes a darker turn on Sheffield’s Crucible stage
Director Titas Halder has stripped Shakespeare’s classic tragedy down to its raw, dystopian core with his production of King Lear. Its September stint at Sheffield’s Crucible Theatre tells the story of an ageing royal whose fateful decision to divide his kingdom among his three daughters triggers a devastating spiral of betrayal, violence and ruin.
Tony and Olivier Award-winning actor Ian McDiarmid stuns in the title role, capturing Lear’s increasingly fractured speech and dwindling sanity. In an instant, McDiarmid can jump from red mist to satire, enthralling the audience like royal subjects. Max Revel’s physical performance as the Fool is equally compelling, bending around the language and the stage itself. In the second act especially, Fode Simbo as Edmund and Justina Kehinde as the middle sister, Regan, hold immense power on stage, and their scene together sticks in the mind long after the show.
The set is incredibly minimal: a circular stage sits in the middle of the room, encased in a wider circle of what appears to be dirt or sand, all before a worn grey backdrop. This approach gives the production endless versatility, transporting the audience through night and day and from castles to forests through the design and its lighting. High strings of screams and echoes sound throughout, maintaining the show’s darker tone and breaking only for small doses of comic relief.
There is a careful balance between Shakespeare’s fundamentals and modern elements that brings the tragedy into the contemporary world. Familiar branding in the costumes – Adidas jackets and high-top Converse – feels deliberately jarring and emphasises the dystopia of the story. Bright lights contrast with live torches, with cool and warm tones fighting for dominance over the stage. The production is at its strongest when its performances and stark landscape work together.
You are gripped from Lear’s angelic introduction through his and his family’s heartbreaking fall. However tragic the story may be, this iteration is joyous in its success and a fitting transition into the colder months at the Crucible.
5/5
