David Threlfall returns to the Royal Exchange Theatre for the first time in 27 years to take on Shakespeare's King Lear, in a production marking the theatre's 50th anniversary. While Matthew Dunster's staging is inventive and the female cast delivers considerable strength, Threlfall's Lear never quite feels like a king, according to Rob Williams' review.
A Theatre Built on Reinvention
The Royal Exchange was only ever supposed to be temporary, but fifty years on it has become one of Manchester's great cultural survivors. Suspended inside the old cotton exchange, it has outlasted expectations, a devastating IRA bomb and countless changes in the city around it. Since opening in 1976, the in-the-round stage has brought actors and audience together in a way few theatres can match, stripping away the distance between performer and spectator.
The Exchange has built its identity on risk-taking, from Maxine Peake's gender-swapped Hamlet in 2014 to landmark performances from Helen Mirren and Michael Sheen, and a young Andrew Garfield making his professional stage debut in Kes. It has never been content simply to dust down the classics and send audiences home satisfied with a respectable version of a familiar play.
Threlfall's Cerebral Lear
Born and raised in Manchester, Threlfall first appeared at the Royal Exchange in 1986. His career has taken him from the Royal Shakespeare Company to Broadway and the national consciousness as Frank Gallagher in Shameless. He also has personal history with King Lear, having played Edgar opposite Laurence Olivier in the 1980 television adaptation.
There's something powerfully cerebral about Threlfall's performance. His Lear is a man all at sea, completely lost, with occasional moments of lucidity, such as when he declares: 'Oh god I'm in France'. But the ego and expectation that those around him will massage it is strangely missing. At times he seems so locked into the descent that the lines become garbled and subtlety is missed. This is not a bad Lear by any means, and Threlfall is miraculously watchable, but you get a strong sense of the madman and not much of the king.
Standout Performances and Striking Design
The cause of Lear's woes are his daughters, and here the production has excellent performances. Lisa Diveney is fantastically watchable as Regan, by turns scheming and innocent, while Nadine Shah hits the perfect note of scheming ambition and sultry manipulation. Isobel Akuwudike does a fine job as Cordelia, but at times feels underpowered. Among the men, Jonathan Slinger stands out as Gloucester and Jason Done gives a believable turn as Kent.
Anna Fleischle's set design is clever and largely unobtrusive, with a cracked floor suggesting lava flowing through it, creating a strong sense of impending doom. The use of chains dangling from the rafters to isolate performers works well, particularly in scenes reflecting on the opulence of Lear's mercenary brood. Lucy Carter's lighting is effective, especially in the stunning storm scenes.
Bold Choices That Don't Always Pay Off
Matthew Dunster's direction is assured but makes some missteps. Attempts to make Lear 'sexy' see scantily clad performers writhing on at least two occasions, which did little to further the plot or provide new interpretation, and made a lot of the audience cringe and giggle.
This is not a bad production, and it is ambitious in the finest tradition of the Royal Exchange. It is fitting that the production marking the 50th anniversary of this truly great theatre is anything but humdrum. Where it fails, it does so with boldness, creativity and an attempt to do things differently. Three stars.
