A Shakespeare version of Eastenders?!

To those of you that haven’t encountered Shakespeare’s King Lear, you might have approached this performance thinking it was a slightly more posh version of a Mitchell family feud.

Director Jacob Lovick set the play in 1950s East London, a choice that worked well in order to highlight the play’s tragic themes with more interest.

Lear depicts a tyrannous gang lord losing his way while his feminist daughters plot against him to take over.

King Lear

On entering to take our seats a live band filled the Deb Hall with upbeat 1950’s rock music. At first I took this positively, believing it would provide a strong and poignant contrast against the heartache of the play itself.

Sadly however, it only served to remind of Grease rather than Shakespeare, and seemed to offer little else.

The stage was set in traverse format so the audience were either side of the production throughout. This worked well for intimacy, but really gave you neck cramp after half an hour.

The cast were present on stage from the beginning, and all sat on a long table drinking wine, eating and chatting away. The temptation to go up and pour myself a glass was pressing since the production proceeded to continue for three and a half hours.

Perhaps the choice to keep the production to the entirety of Shakespeare’s text would be more appealing to those Shakespearean enthusiasts?

But the actors salvaged my pain in their performances, consistently keeping to their thick East London accents.

Ben Firth’s portrayal of Lear was fantastic. His growling voice in particular evoked the right amount of aggressiveness (slightly resembling Phil Mitchell) without going over the top and being too “shouty”, as some Lears often are.

Ben Firth as Lear

The scheming sisters, equal to Ronnie and Roxy Mitchell, oozed evil. Goneril (played by Lucy Cheetham) was ice cold, whereas Catherine Butler cleverly adopted Regan’s sly manner, changing her demeanour from fake to fierce instantaneously. Butter wouldn’t melt.

Family portrait

Chavonne Brown gave an outstanding performance of Kent with a two-sided representation. Like Billy Mitchell, Phil’s faithful cousin, we laugh at him and cry with him (especially when Phil tries to disown him, bless).

Chavonne displayed Kent’s comedic persona with his asides and reactions, which the audience often found hysterical. He slipped in puns like “as base as a football player”.

His tragic side, on the other hand, was heart-breaking. Chavonne shed a tear when Lear fell to his death at the end.

Lear’s bestie

Lovick’s decision to give the play’s ending a sinister twist was commendable. It was revealed that Ed (Ricky Carey playing both Edmund and Edgar), the evil villain (similar to the likes of Dirty Den), came out on top.

The schizophrenic element to Ed’s character was new and inventive and Ricky bravely took on the challenge. Despite this, I feel the character would have worked better with a most distinct and emphasised change in personality.

Don’t trust him guys!

All cast and crew must be congratulated, and any student who can learn Shakespeare speeches as long as this article must be commended.

My main criticism lies with the Guild – and that is simply to provide better chairs. After four hours of sitting on one, my back was in agony.