A production of King Lear running under ninety minutes, entirely without words, is the offering from Tang Shu-wing Theatre Studio, who are having their European premiere at Riverside Studios in Hammersmith.
Nine women make up the cast, led by Cecilia Yip as Lear. On an empty stage they have just a chair and a ladder as props. Tackling Shakespeare’s epic tragedy – which can run over four hours in full form – in gesture alone is quite a feat to attempt.
Director Shu-wing Tang has previously directed a Macbeth where the actors playing Macbeth and Lady Macbeth switch at the interval. He is no stranger to shaking up the classics while retaining a clear line back to the original.
Lear and his three daughters (Ting Kwan-Lau as Goneril; Peggy Chow as Regan; Cassandra Tang as Cordelia) are seen in the famous land-for-love scene, with Cordelia quickly and cruelly rejected and pushed away.
Brothers Edmund (Corina Druc) and Edgar (Costinela Ungureanu) lie down either side of a white circle of light. Their father, Gloucester (Lindzay Chan), pushes away Edgar, his favourite.
So are two fathers bound together in destroying their families. Faithful Kent (Amanda Leung), masked, follows Lear, as does his cartwheeling, jovial Fool (also Cassandra Tang).
Director Tang does not shy from vast swathes of silence in King Lear. In watching, say, the mutilation of Gloucester by Cornwall (also Ungureanu), in silhouette, a single red glove and an anguished scream stands for any delivery of text, or musical underscoring.
Elsewhere, bursts of gunfire or pulsing rock beats accompany the action. It is the silent, still, quiet moments of Lear recognising his exiled child, or Edgar sitting quietly observing the mouth of hell, or Albany (Ki-yan Ko) recognising the duplicity of his wife, that catch our imagination.
It asks a lot of an audience to stay quiet and observe the smallest gesture of the hand or the briefest of looks. It requires concentration and, inevitably, some knowledge of the play.
Although there is some dancing, some physical altercation, and a sense of the body in power (atop the ladder) or in crisis (huddled under a chair), it is the crook of a finger or the closing of an eyelid that fully communicates.
I was reminded at some points of the work of the late choreographer, mime and clown Lindsay Kemp, who also dabbled in the works of the Bard through facial expression and movement.
Non-verbal performance transcends barriers of language and understanding. This King Lear is neither dance nor mime but retains elements of both. Yip is magnificent in her role, as is Chan, whose Gloucester catches your heart as his beloved son Edmund betrays him.
Tang’s Fool is a force of energy mixed with a childlike need to please; Lau and Chow’s ambitious sisters move like black crows lining up for a meal. Druc’s Edmund radiates pure evil and little regret, choking Cordelia without a thought.
Billy Ng’s music and Anthony Yeung’s sound design add moments of reflection and excitement; Tsz-yan Yeung’s lighting offers larger than life shadows, hidden figures, and snipers’ targets.
This King Lear repays your investment by offering a mature, measured and malevolent approach to a familiar text. At the Almeida earlier in the year, Yaël Farber’s production had folk songs to great effect. Here there is the song of silence, and the power of its beauty.
King Lear continues at Riverside Studios until 12 May, with tickets here.
****
Image credit: Tik Hang Cedric Yip