By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHEN?: Saturday 23 March and runs through 30 March 2024 RUNTIME: 215 minutes (including a 20-minute interval)

‘Out, vile jelly!’ We’re in the front row at this intimate venue and Gloucester’s bloody, gouged-out eye rolls across the stage towards us in the 1st King Lear we’ve seen since Kenneth Branagh’s in the West End late last year.

• Read on for reasons including how it is Lear’s interaction with his Fool which is most insightful here

Director Yaël Farber’s (The Tragedy Of Macbeth, Almeida) vision couldn’t be more different and she gives a modern-day take on this tragedy in a very musical incarnation starring Danny Sapani (pictured left) who is probably best known for his roles in the Black Panther films and TV’s Killing Eve.

The most successful element of this staging is Sapani’s insightful interaction with his Fool (beautifully and lyrically played by Clarke Peters from TV’s The Wire) who uses humour to shine a light on the predicament of a king who asks his daughters what they think of him, doesn’t like the answer and triggers a chain of events that will see his descent into homelessness and ultimately madness.

Does the Fool exist? Or is he Lear’s own inner voice? It’s the most delicate exploration of this relationship we’ve seen in any production of Lear and makes us want to see more of both Sapani’s and Peters’ work on the UK stage.

Gloucester’s son Edgar is well-drawn by Matthew Tennyson (so good also last year in The Pillowman at the Duke Of York’s) who spends much of his time onstage daubed in mud, naked but for white underpants and often perched on top of a piano as he dons a madman’s disguise after being disinherited by his father.

Violinists including Steffan Rizzi (Vulvarine A New Musical, VAULT Festival) accompany much of the action and there’s even singing from Fra Fee’s (Cabaret at The Kit Kat Club) tattooed, sexy and conniving Edmund and Faith Omole’s (Standing At The Sky’s Edge, National Theatre) memorably villainous daughter Regan.

The setting is modern day which means during the eye gouging scene protective covering is placed over the sofa so as not to stain as we wince in anticipation of what we are about to witness.

We’re sitting on the end of an aisle and the pace is frenetic despite the production’s luxuriant run time as the cast rushes back and forth through the auditorium to enter and exit the stage.

Sapani is 53, 9 years younger than Branagh’s Lear but we felt his characterisation was without any vanity at all as he spent much of the show wandering around in his underpants and later modern day clothing which suggested a man once well dressed who was now fallen on hard times, dishevelled and perhaps with morris dancer ambitions.

This Lear was almost double the length of Branagh’s cinematic version and examined every inch of the plot forensically.

It felt apt to devote such time and care dissecting the tale as done here rather than abbreviating the story as Branagh attempted.

• Main picture via Facebook courtesy Almeida Theatre
• Have you seen King Lear onstage before and what did you think of this production? Tickets
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