We take a look at what is being said about Yaël Farber’s production, starring Danny Sapani…
Broadway World: **** “Farber’s Lear often feels ungarnished in a good way: she avoids tacky hot takes grounded particular setting or concept. Without flashy gimmicks there is just razor-sharp focus on the text and the slimy political subterfuge bubbling beneath it.”
The FT: **** “a mighty production that fuses the sense of ritual so often central to the director’s work with a modern setting to create a shattering piece of theatre, led by a towering, beautifully shaped performance from Danny Sapani.”
The Guardian: **** “Yaël Farber is known for the unrushed, ritualistic pace of her plays, having directed Shakespeare’s most feverish tragedy, Macbeth, at two and a half hours, to some critical consternation. But Farber has found her natural home in King Lear with this dark, doomy and epic production.”
The Stage: **** “Powerful, angry performances hold together Yaël Farber’s sprawling, bleak vision of a king and his country in terminal decline.”
Time Out: **** “Danny Sapani is excellent as a toxic ruler washed clean by an unnatural storm in Yaël Farber’s exquisitely atmospheric production.”
Evening Standard: *** “There’s more music and more queasy comedy here than is typical in Lear, too. This is a strange, imperfect but intriguing take on Shakespeare’s play, in which Sapani triumphantly claims the central role.”
iNews: *** “Farber’s vision teems with ideas, but they do not lead us to a fresh understanding of Shakespeare’s most ferociously flawed play.”
All That Dazzles: **** “Danny Sapani brings seemingly endless shades to one of Shakespeare’s most prolific roles, making the character at once strikingly familiar and entirely his own creation. His is a performance to talk about for years to come, managing to morph from composed politician, to raging warlord, to doting father, to deranged old man, all without creating a disconnect between scenes or between himself and his audience.”
WhatsOnStage: **** “Each detail of the production feels meant and a terrific cast wrench sense from each fluctuation of character but there is there is a price to be paid for such a deliberate approach. This is a long evening and as it loses some control when the Fool vanishes in the second half, it begins to feel longer. Oddly, the first two-hours have cast such a spell that you almost feel you could reach the end without an interval.”
The Telegraph: **** “The Killing Eve star leads from the front in Yael Farber’s astonishing new staging, which has nearly every element gleaming anew.”
The Reviews Hub: **** 1/2 “This is a glorious production, full of great performances, brilliant tech, and moments that are extremely moving. Even the weird game-playing between Edgar and his blind father, the beetling cliffs of Dover represented by a battered stand-up piano, is moving. And when the singers in the cast take centre stage – that is a moment to savour forever.”
There Ought to be Clowns: “With the extensive running time, there’s a palpable feeling of authentic egalitarianism too, a genuine company feel that works so much more effectively than the recent star vehicle take – Fra Fee and Matthew Tennyson’s Edmund and Edgar certainly benefitting here. There’s no doubting it’s a hefty endeavour, even with the earlier start, and there are moments in the third quarter that do start to drag but overall, it is a worthwhile investment of your time.”
The production continues to play until the 30th March 2024.