July 18, 2007
Oh dear. Most people reading this live in Oxford. What a shame. If you can take the 20-minute train ride to Banbury – by Saturday night – you will see something special. There are still some tickets left for this production, and it is a lovely theatrical experience. We are backstage at a provincial English theatre in 1942. Air raids can come and go (and they do), but tonight’s performance of King Lear is unstoppable, except that ‘Sir’ is not here yet (45 minutes to curtain up), because he had a bit of a turn today, and is in hospital. Norman, his dresser, is fretting, and Her Ladyship, Sir’s wife (Pussy), aka Cordelia, is stressed and angry. What’s to do? Just in time, Sir stumbles in, pathetic, insignificant, and emotional, having discharged himself, and Norman goes to work, shooing others out of the dressing room, and then coaxing, cajoling, and guiding him into his costume, wig, beard, and make-up but, more important, into the performance of a lifetime, and a transformation that is astonishing to observe.
Then, a couple of actors who are newly recast have to visit ‘Sir’ prior to the performance. “Pace, pace, pace, pace”, Sir bellows at his new Fool, and I agreed. On a nervous first night, when a couple of the actors seemed shocked to find an audience in front of them, lines were regularly lost, and slowed the pace, which in turn caused concentration to waver and cues to be slow, but the atmosphere of wartime theatrical Britain remained strong throughout.
We reach the interval just as Sir is ready to go on, and Act Two begins with a funny storm scene; Norman the dresser, Madge (Stage Manager), Irene (ambitious young actress), and Mr. Oxenby (average actor who wants to be a writer), all running around creating a shattering wall of sound, only for Sir to come offstage and boom, “Where was the storm?” His wife has been nagging him to give it all up, the long-suffering Stage Manager has been in love with him for 20 years (“You will always be remembered”, she tells him, plaintively) and Sir has been trying to begin his autobiography for some time now, but has only got as far as the title (“My Life”). Instinct tells us he ought to get on with it very soon, but there’s no question of him dying, is there? Well, for one thing, what would his devoted Norman do?
It’s all there; comedy, tragedy, pathos, humanity, and all within a realistically shabby backstage set, with excellent lighting and strong direction. Costumes are so good you won’t notice them unless you are meant to, and the actors inhabit them well. Two powerhouses in the central performances drive the story well, and the reasons why I love the theatre were reinforced: among other things, I want to be emotionally moved, and last night I was.
Then, a couple of actors who are newly recast have to visit ‘Sir’ prior to the performance. “Pace, pace, pace, pace”, Sir bellows at his new Fool, and I agreed. On a nervous first night, when a couple of the actors seemed shocked to find an audience in front of them, lines were regularly lost, and slowed the pace, which in turn caused concentration to waver and cues to be slow, but the atmosphere of wartime theatrical Britain remained strong throughout.
We reach the interval just as Sir is ready to go on, and Act Two begins with a funny storm scene; Norman the dresser, Madge (Stage Manager), Irene (ambitious young actress), and Mr. Oxenby (average actor who wants to be a writer), all running around creating a shattering wall of sound, only for Sir to come offstage and boom, “Where was the storm?” His wife has been nagging him to give it all up, the long-suffering Stage Manager has been in love with him for 20 years (“You will always be remembered”, she tells him, plaintively) and Sir has been trying to begin his autobiography for some time now, but has only got as far as the title (“My Life”). Instinct tells us he ought to get on with it very soon, but there’s no question of him dying, is there? Well, for one thing, what would his devoted Norman do?
It’s all there; comedy, tragedy, pathos, humanity, and all within a realistically shabby backstage set, with excellent lighting and strong direction. Costumes are so good you won’t notice them unless you are meant to, and the actors inhabit them well. Two powerhouses in the central performances drive the story well, and the reasons why I love the theatre were reinforced: among other things, I want to be emotionally moved, and last night I was.