Gender-swapped roles and unlikely musical numbers freshen up this take on King Lear, which is currently playing at Camden Fringe.
Lear gives his kingdom to daughters Goneril and Regan and casts out Cordelia, who can’t falsely flatter her father. Gloucester has two sons, Edgar and Edmund, one legitimate and one not, and finds a plot rips his family apart.
It’s a little long in duration, running well over its advertised time, so plan for that. But it has so many bright ideas, including how it deals with the mutilation and torture of Gloucester.
A couple of the actors could work on their projection and diction; it is a small space, after all. However, this is a wonderful interpretation of Lear through a queer lens, and actor Brenna Simpson is astonishing in the lead.
Poor old Kent is cut from the story, with the Fool taking on much of his role as Lear’s protector. The King of France is gone in an instant. Cordelia and Oswald are played by the same actor.
Billed as a dark tragicomedy, King Lear is Dead has a vision that sheds new light on this play. Co-directors Katya Schwarz and Isaac Redgrave allow high emotion and audience participation as well as allowing Edgar and Lear to show their inner turmoil.
Izzy Chapman’s lighting deserves particular mention, going beyond the couple of spotlights you often see in pub theatres. The adaptation, a group effort with cast and creatives, makes the play both accessible and memorable.
Luka Wellman shines as the Fool and other minor characters, watching, commenting, judging. Your eyes are constantly drawn to him, a tragic clown who stays constant and true.
Eve Chatfield and Miranda Barnes are Edmund and Edgar, both bringing out facets in their characters I hadn’t considered before. Edgar’s horrified assumption of madness is not easily forgotten.
Aleks Velkov’s Goneril and Amber Gilbert’s Regan are products of a domineering home, where Belynn Carr’s Cordelia retreats into her book. You feel this has not been an easy life for them.
Gloucester (Harry van Dinter) is cast young but assumes the shape of a decent man bewildered by his sons. Luke O’Dell (Cornwall) and Jamie Johnson (Albany) make up the cast, less to do but still very good.
I admired Millie Chalcraft’s set of armchair, table, and photographs of the Lear family in various happier times. The ability to shift locations within this one space was well thought-out.
Those new to the play might feel there is an omission or two that leaves the story hanging, but this is a strong entry in the Old Red Lion’s Shakefest (sadly the only one I am seeing this Fringe, but the list is here).
4 stars.
You can see King Lear is Dead at Camden Fringe until tonight – tickets here. follow the show’s Instagram to find out more.