Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

The old problem

<strong>King Lear</strong><br /> <em>Globe</em> <strong>That Face</strong><em><br /> Duke of York's</em> <strong>Beau Jest</strong><em><br /> Hackney Empire</em>

issue 17 May 2008

King Lear
Globe

That Face
Duke of York’s

Beau Jest
Hackney Empire

Every time I see Lear I discover something old. It must be at least two centuries since somebody first noticed that one of the many factors that make this titanic play unplayable is that the great speeches are delivered by a bearded geriatric in acute distress crawling about on his knees like a stricken bison.

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