#also kirsty bushell was incredible

[mywingsareonwheels]

I saw this production of Richard III last night by livestream to a cinema. It was utterly magnificent and Arthur Hughes is an incredible actor. This article by Hughes is brilliant and so true also. (And I'd love to see him as Macbeth! Also any/all of Mercutio, Hamlet, Brutus, Romeo, Vincentio...)

“I think it’s good to play those parts [where disability is a key part of the role] but it’s also good for disabled actors to play characters where it’s incidental and disability is not specified,” he says.

“That’s the next step, where representation will be really ubiquitous and powerful. Disability is obviously an important part of your identity, but not the only part.

"Why not have a disabled Macbeth?”

[the-petite-performer-blog]

King Lear at The Duke of York’s Theatre- Review

I was lucky enough to gain tickets to one of the one hundred performances of King Lear at the Duke of York’s Theatre on London’s West End. King Lear has been a show that I’ve used monologues from and I remember watching an incredibly odd adaptation and totally not following the plot line so I was skeptical; but my goodness, the play was an absolute masterpiece. The theatre was rather small anyway, but half of the seats of the stalls had been taken out to make a very intimate performance. Even though I was at the back of the Royal Circle, I felt incredibly close to the action and did not miss a word. It was a perfect setting for this remarkable play.

A huge part of the performance’s popularity is due to the legend that is Ian McKellen resurrecting the iconic role of Lear for his final time. He certainly lived up to his reputation. In the programme, he spoke about how he’d played many of the roles in the show before, including Lear, and had unfinished business so he was overjoyed to return to the role. His performance was absolutely outstanding (as one would imagine) and he brought Lear to life with such believability. Though many of the audience members perceived his madness comical, it was also rather upsetting to see how much his mind deteriorated from the beginning of the play. Portraying this slow descent into madness is difficult, but McKellen did it absolutely brilliantly. 

An actress I could not take my eyes of was Kirsty Bushell as Reagan. She played the role as if she almost gained some sort of high from seeing the bloodshed that pursued. She danced around as Gloucester encountered the wrath of her husband and kissed his bloodied eye sockets as if she craved blood. Another immense villain was Edmund, which was portrayed by James Corrigan. He played Edmund brilliantly, showing how evil and resentful the character is and often breaking the fourth wall in order to tell the audience of his need for vengeance. He embodied the pure evil that is Edmund’s character. Another worthy mentioned is Anita-Joy Uwajeh as Cordelia. What I loved is that Cordelia became the leader of the French army, giving her power which is often deprived from females in Shakespeare. She was powerful but also very tender, especially with her father. It was refreshing to see this unique take on the character and breaking the mould. 

Jonathan Munby did an excellent job of adapting King Lear for a modern audience. The production was set in a modern day Royal Family-esque setting which was fantastic for a modern audience and created theatre that even Shakespeare Novice’s could follow. The lighting of the performance was also exceptional. Oliver Fenwick did a brilliant job, I especially remember the battle scene in which there was strobe lighting across the stage, which made it even more believable that war had broken out upon the stage. Another astonishing moment was when the stage filled with rain. It was a unique sight to behold and was the result of some hard work down by the designers and technicians of the show. It looked absolutely amazing and what also struck me was how the actors carried on for another half an hour performing in soaking wet clothes! 

Overall, this performance of King Lear was one of the best Shakespeare performance I had seen upon the stage. The cast and crew did a fantastic job of bringing this Shakespearean classic to life and I would urge anyone to get a ticket if possible. It was a truly amazing theatrical experience.