King Lear

The kindest thing that can be said about the extensive cutting of this play is that we were subjected to less of the lacklustre performances that we would otherwise have suffered. Or maybe it is the other way around: the lacklustre performances demanded a heavily cut play. Or perhaps it was the performance of Lear (Patrick Magee), flat dull and monotone, that dominated the performance of the other players and made them want to rush home for their cocoa. Either way, it was dreadful.

A pity, King Lear is one of the greatest tragedies in the English language. What about Hamlet, I hear you say? Hamlet is the young man's tragedy, Lear, written in the fullness of Shakespeare's power, is the old man's tragedy, both have a place within the canon.

Each speech in King Lear has a purpose and helps to build up to a horrifying climax; to omit any one weakens the structure. We do not hear of Edmund's illegitimacy except by implication and accident, which makes his actions inexplicable. Gloucester's speech, where he explains this, and Edmunds soliloquy, when he argues against his exclusion as the result, are fundamental to the structure of the play.

Again, Cordelia's asides in Act I are omitted, making her silence inexplicable.

Further on, when Lear rails against his daughters, it makes no sense unless we have seen the slow attrition of his status as king. I could go on and on, but I hope the point has been made clear; King Lear is a play that should never suffer any cuts whatsoever.

I see that the production was for London Weekend television. Perhaps it was the need to fit the performances between commercial breaks that informed this dire performance. A pity, but there are other performances; that by Brian Blessed has some very interesting semiotics, clearly distinguishing the pagan first part of the play from the chivalric second. Forget his weird haircut and watch the Fool.

This version looked like it was on a tiny budget. The sets were so sparce and simple, they were comical for a film - more like you'd expect on stage. The fight scenes were very funny - a guy holding onto the point of the sword he'd been slain with, pretending it was in him and then letting go as it's supposed to be pulled out with no hint of blood anywhere. With a lot of good will by the viewer, it puts the story across but it feels like you're in a church hall watching ernest amateurs.

The girls were good - 2 nasties and 1 stupidly nice.