University of Adelaide Theatre Guild. Little Theatre. 22 Aug 2024
A nice night’s entertainment it never was. It’s nasty.
Because of the political frailties and the dangerous madness of current US politics, one feels all the more disturbed, indignant, and incredulous at the grotesque follies of King Lear. His smug regal vanity pits his daughters against each other with an ensuing torrent of violence and hatred which, showing people at their worst, is Shakespeare at his tragedian best.
To make it all the more gruelling, this AUTG production directed by Brant Eustice is set in a quasi-industrial, post-apocalyptic world, its Kate Prescott set looking like an abandoned construction site and its Lisa Lanzi costumes like Mad Max remnants dragged from the recycle bin. So puzzling are the costumes, with bottle cap adornments and beer can pull-tab jewellery, that they quite draw the attention from the high drama enacted by their wearers. Edmund’s off-the-shoulder number almost one-upped the extremely fine performance of Sean Flierl. And what a fine voice he has.
Of course, it is Michael Eustice’s voice which rules the stage. Clad in grubby, ill-fitting rags, he delivers the might, majesty, and epic madness of the King. If his vocal delivery is masterful, the expressions in his eyes through every nuance of every scene are spellbinding. He “inhabits’ the role. It is a magnificent, deeply satisfying performance.
King Lear, with its complexity of rival royals and riven loyalties, accommodates a large and needfully accomplished cast, the likes of which we can see less and less in these economically fraught times. It is from the diligence of AUTG and the other unpaid theatricals that we may expose our young to major classical works such as this. Director Brant Eustice has rallied some fine performers and wrapped this long and torrid drama in snappy timing and lovely character work. Eustice himself, standing in for a sick cast member, is among them, heartbreaking as poor blinded Gloucester and, beside him as his son Edgar, Robert Baulderstone in an eminently creditable and consistent performance. He doubles nicely as the King of France. Rebecca Kemp, shines once more in the role of Lear’s venomous daughter, Regan. Her Shakespearean articulation is perfect. Georgia Stockham playing her evil sister, Goneril, is also articulate but oh, my, the Widow Twankey has nothing on the hapless overkill of her hair and costume. As Cordelia, the king's youngest and favourite daughter, Rhoda Sylvester enchants from her excellent opening scene but is a little lost subsequently. Then there’s the incomparable Geoff Revell. He makes a tasty meal of The Fool, nimble of tongue and toe. The much-respected Sharon Malujlo is oddly miscast as Kent. Not so Tracey Walker as Albany and Tom Tassone as Cornwall. Then there’s Tony Sampson, grinning, mad as Oswald with, in myriad roles, Harry Passehl, Lizzie Zeuner, Mike Leach and Imogen Deller-Evans. It is a strong, hardworking cast, exhausting to watch, and the sword fighting is genuinely scary.
Michael Green’s score is quite arresting. It is gently industrial, softly clamorous, original and befitting. Then there’s the storm, perhaps not as overwhelming as in other productions, but the Little Theatre is an intimate space and, as director, Brant Eustice has manipulated the action in such a way that the audience feels truly enveloped. Hence, when it comes to a night of unrelenting Shakespearean cruelty, sorrow, death, and insanity, it is perversely enjoyable.
Samela Harris
When: 22 to 25 Aug
Where: The Little Theatre
Bookings: Sold Out
Editor’s Note: King Lear has unfortunately closed early due to a illness.
