ED2016 2/5 Reviews ED2016 Theatre Reviews

Queen Lear (Ronnie Dorsey Productions)

By Jane Berg | Published on Friday 26 August 2016

Ever wonder why the patriarchal world of Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear’ is so bleak? ‘Queen Lear’ gives us the unwritten story of Cordelia’s mother, a woman like her daughter in almost every respect: innocent and betrayed, tortured and doomed. Accompanied onstage by her nurse and priest, we see Queen Lear in the final moments of a fatal childbirth, contemplating her life. Unfortunately, the play does not live up to the implicit promise of giving an additional perspective into the bard’s masterpiece. The writing is all emphasis and invocation, without significance, and the critique of misogyny is one I think we have all heard before. I was left wondering if the Shakespearian connection did more harm than good to this play.

Assembly Roxy, until 29 Aug.
tw rating 2/5 | [Jane Berg]