King Lear - The Globe - Kathryn Hunter
Jul 2, 2022 22:58:57 GMT
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horton and foxa like this
Post by Steve on Jul 2, 2022 22:58:57 GMT
Saw this tonight, and Kathryn Hunter's Lear had me in tears. Not a false note in it, and some great scenes with the Fool (Michelle Terry), who is savagely caustic and funny as well.
Apparently, the director got sick the last couple of weeks, so the cast directed themselves (lol), but since Terry's a director and Hunter's done it before, you wouldn't know the director got sick at all, except to say there's no particular original take to this Lear (which will please some and annoy others).
It drizzled a bit tonight (felt like a cold sweat), and the Globe crows got a bit rowdy as the sun went down, but it all added to the atmosphere. I do love the Globe's unpredictability.
Ryan Donaldson's Edmund was overwhelmingly good. He certainly used the opportunity for interaction with the Groundlings, tainting pretty much every person at the front with some unsavoury quality, which was very funny, especially when he identified a particularly sober looking young woman as a "drunkard" lol.
His performance grew and grew, and he was never predictable or one thing, relaxed as Errol Flynn's Robin Hood when I thought he'd be scared, and filled with rage just when I didn't expect, sardonic and witty, intimate and aggressive, and it all made complete sense in the moment. He reacted to the crows, to the rain, to the audience, to the characters, and every bit felt true. Just the most outstanding Edmund, I felt.
He, along with the atmosphere, Michelle Terry's Fool, and Kathryn Hunter's frail-in-body ever-aware-in-mind Lear just made for a fantastic night for me.
So, maybe not the most directed Lear one could see, but certainly one of note, and it only plays till the 24th of July, and for me, it was well worth it.
Running time was 3hours, 15 minutes, and I was out by 10:45pm.
4 and a half stars.
Apparently, the director got sick the last couple of weeks, so the cast directed themselves (lol), but since Terry's a director and Hunter's done it before, you wouldn't know the director got sick at all, except to say there's no particular original take to this Lear (which will please some and annoy others).
It drizzled a bit tonight (felt like a cold sweat), and the Globe crows got a bit rowdy as the sun went down, but it all added to the atmosphere. I do love the Globe's unpredictability.
Ryan Donaldson's Edmund was overwhelmingly good. He certainly used the opportunity for interaction with the Groundlings, tainting pretty much every person at the front with some unsavoury quality, which was very funny, especially when he identified a particularly sober looking young woman as a "drunkard" lol.
His performance grew and grew, and he was never predictable or one thing, relaxed as Errol Flynn's Robin Hood when I thought he'd be scared, and filled with rage just when I didn't expect, sardonic and witty, intimate and aggressive, and it all made complete sense in the moment. He reacted to the crows, to the rain, to the audience, to the characters, and every bit felt true. Just the most outstanding Edmund, I felt.
He, along with the atmosphere, Michelle Terry's Fool, and Kathryn Hunter's frail-in-body ever-aware-in-mind Lear just made for a fantastic night for me.
So, maybe not the most directed Lear one could see, but certainly one of note, and it only plays till the 24th of July, and for me, it was well worth it.
Running time was 3hours, 15 minutes, and I was out by 10:45pm.
4 and a half stars.
