by William Shakespeare
Performed at the Greenwich Playhouse January 2004

King Lear stands as a colossus at the heart of the Shakespearean canon. It encompasses a whole society and the whole gamut of human emotions. It plunges deeply into the terrifying darkness of what lies beneath human morality and accepted truths. It pitches humanity's search for significance against a Goliath of incertitude. Incertitude wins, but the contest is grand and instructive.

King Lear questions the very foundations of human civilisation; in which word and deed; power and justice; love and right; are utterly attoned. We love Lear because his blindness and arrogance is all our blindness and arrogance. Shakespeare's play triumphs not by moralising about how the powerful might fall, but by showing us the consequences of ill-founded beliefs. In Lear this thinking destroys absolutely, while we watch and witness a set of events that stand as an ever relevant and profound comment on our civilisation.

CREDITS

• Adapted and Directed Bruce Jamieson
• Produced by Alice de Sousa

THE CAST

• Lear - Oliver Bradshaw
• Albany - Grae Cleugh
• Goneril - Alice de Sousa
• Regan - Anna Fiorentini
• Cornwall - David Vaughan Knight
• Gloucester - Barry Latchford
• Cordelia - Alex Roberts
• Burgundy/Oswald - Patrick Ross
• Edmund - Tom Stuart
• France/Fool - James Thomas
• Kent - Matthew Ward
• Edgar - Jackson Wright

THE CREATIVE TEAM

• Costume Design - Rachel Baynton
• Deputy Stage Manager - Elizabeth Buckeridge
• Assistant Stage Manager - Lisa Clare Ganley
• Set Design - Liam Daniel Shea
• Lighting Designer - Robert Gooch
• Make up Consultant - Cindy Hopkins
• Hair Consultant - Andrew Jon
• Production Assistants - Jo Hayes; Anna Ricciardi
• Publicity Design - Alison Rayner
• Stills Photographer - Paul L.T. Welch

REVIEWS

“The ever ambitious Galleon Theatre, rises to the challenge with a suitably contemporary production that places emphasis on grim reality, rather than emotional grandeur. This is not some distant, historical tragedy, but a cataclysm happening now” - What's On In London

 

“This wonderful adaptation looks stylish, sexy and modern, the cast is impressive, and the tragic events are gripping. A great theatrical start to Galleon's New Year.” -Theatreworld

 

“Definitely one not to miss” - The Guide

 

“Striking a surly but stylish cinematic pose that wouldn't seem amiss on celluloid, Galleon showed that it is possible to inject the venom of popular culture into Shakespeare without losing the sting in the original tale. Theatre doesn't get much better than this” - South London Press