King Lear is Shakespeare’s longest play. And the first real tragedy we’ve seen so far. The Royal Shakespeare company hosted a company of Ukrainian actors and their director to put on a shorter version of King Lear to spread awareness and gain support Ukraine which is currently amidst a devastating war.
My favorite thing about this production was the heart behind it. Theatre is about the message and the feelings you get through storytelling and that was truly present throughout this show. It was abundantly clear that this cause was deeply close to the actor’s hearts. The emotions on stage were real, and there was so much motivation behind each line. This was necessary to keep audience members engaged since we don’t speak the language they were speaking the lines in. Yes, the whole play was in the Ukrainian language. Yes, it was difficult to understand at times. But the cause and the passion behind the cause made it a worthwhile watch.
The technical elements please try surprised me. The set and lighting were very interesting, with the set being very minimal but it worked so well with the lighting. It was 6 columns of strips of wood randomly arranged with a translucent white sheet hanging over it they would move to indicate a change of scene. I loved the storm scene because l the lighting and set worked together so well to create this feeling of chaos brewing for the audience. This was in my opinion, a genius idea of the director’s.
They stressed the point to us that the actors were not professional. However, it was easy to overlook that because of how much passion they brought to the stage. Yes, I noticed acting flaws and I caught myself cringing at a few acting choices but I reminded myself that it isn’t the point. No one went in this show expecting applause, praise, and awards. All they wanted was to get people to think. And they were successful in that for sure.
Theatre in London U of A 