THE THEATRE
" King Lear." At the St. James's Theatre.
EVERY lover of the theatre, and of Shakespeare in particular, should take the opportunity during the next seven days of seeing this really adequate production of King Lear which concludes Donald Wolfit's present London season. To use the word " adequate " of what is, on the whole, Shakespeare's most terrific conception gives the measure of Mr. Wolfies success, both in the production of the play and in the part. This is the only adequate production of King Lear I have ever seen, and its effect in these tumultuous days, whose character is so in tune with the catastrophic magnificence of the play, is truly indescribable. It might be said that a World War and the crimes of the Nazis were necessary before ordinary men and women could possibly understand the greatness of King Lear or realise the degree of Shakespeare's comprehension of man's inhumanity to man, and nobody who witnesses this performance can ever again believe that King Lear is unactable, as some critics have maintained. It is not; on the contrary, tremendous as it is in reading it is still more so on the stage, and it is only then that we notice the details which show what a great dramatist, as well as poet, Shakespeare was.
The passage about the samphire gatherer adequately (note this word again) spoken by Peter Copley (Edgar) is-world-famous poetry ; but on the stage, spoken to the blinded Gloucester, its effect is astounding and unpredictable. Mr. Wolfit did not make the, mistake of dressing the play in sheepskins, but took a hint from Blake, and his Lear reminded one of " The Ancient of Days," otherwise the dressing is not so successful. He also avoided making out of Cordelia a sort of Cinderella with two ugly and elderly sisters. Goneril (Iris Russell) and Regan (Ann Casson) were the sort of daughters you would expect the mighty Lear to have, with their strength turned to pure virtue in Cordelia. Patrick Crean was an exceptionally good Duke of Kent, and I lilted Richard Coolden's Fool. As for Donald Wolfit, he deserves our .gratitude as well as our praise.for an outstanding success. To avoid ranting, to convey Lear's mighty passion in control and to cover the whole gamut from the great monarch to the madman, and the broken awe- inspiring father of the almost unbearable last scene, is an achieve-
ment of which an actor can rightly be proud. JAMES REDFERN.
Previous page
