Item: King Lear
Author: Christopher Hallam

Sheffield’s Crucible welcomes the first of its Shakespeare double-bill

After a tyrant of a king decides to break up his kingdom in his old age and be unburdened by the pressures of leading, King Lear chooses to pass over control of his lands to his three daughters – albeit with a caveat.

Ian McDiarmid returns to Sheffield for the first time since 2005 to play the title role. He is an Olivier and Tony award-winning theatre actor, as well as having multiple screen credits including Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars franchise. | Johan Persson

placeholder image — Ian McDiarmid returns to Sheffield for the first time since 2005 to play the title role. He is an Olivier and Tony award-winning theatre actor, as well as having multiple screen credits including Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars franchise. | Johan Persson

Each of his daughters will only secure their inheritance and future legacy by showcasing their love for him, two of the daughters profess (or should that be ‘protest’?) their fervent ardour for their patriarch and king – only the youngest, Cordelia performed by Bebe Sanders, refuses to play along and she is subsequently banished.

There’s a reason that King Lear is widely regarded as Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, and it truly is. Over the course of nearly three hours, we see how Lear’s remaining daughters tear apart their father’s legacy and kingdom, stripping his power, authority and dignity before turning their rampant pursuit of power onto one another.

If Shakespeare’s Lear blurred the line between high tragedy and black comedy then Titas Halder's direction of this stage classic elevates it with a brooding, yet fascinating moodiness that evokes parallels with the world's current political landscape to captivating effect | Johan Persson

The Olivier and Tony award-winning Ian McDiarmid (perhaps best known on-screen as Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars franchise) marks his return to the Crucible, reprising King Lear on stage for the first time since 2005. Now aged 82, you’d think that there would be a delicateness to his delivery, perhaps a little bit but there is no doubting his talent, which seems to have been neatly distilled with time.

McDiarmid is captivating throughout, looming across the stage in various stages of deconstruction, from ruthless authoritarian to victim of his own tyranny at the hands of his devious, brutal and callous daughters – his attempts to beseech their better natures a futile affair.

The cast, directed by Titas Halder are, an imperious ensemble. Each delivering carefully paced, hilarious, heart-breaking, tragic and impressive performances that are further enhanced by the tumultuous events unfolding at speed.

Max Revell's Fool is depicted with such hilariously crude flexibility and athletic exuberance it truly is a sight to behold. | Provided

Justina Kehinde’s Regan and Katie Wimpenny’s Goneril are brilliantly evil, beautiful, underhanded, callous and cruel, whereas Sander’s Cordelia and Harry Redding’s Edgar are one of the few human elements that persevere in spite of the hand of cruelty dealt to them.

Meanwhile, Max Revell’s Fool moves with a litheness and dexterity that is part acrobat, part break dancer, his deft flexibility and comedic delivery brings plenty of crass humour especially in the first half.

Fode Simbo is both hilarious, dastardly and exploitative in his melodious methods of deceit. This is all without mentioning the eye-popping performance of David Birrell as Gloucester, or Mark Holgate’s brusque, obtuse and hilariously foul-mouthed Kent – notably delivered in a disdainful Northern twang.

Presented in the round, with a circular pit within, it is a seemingly simple but multi-faceted staging design that over the course of the play evolves, adjusts, illuminates and frames each moment of malcontent, revenge, duplicity and resolution.

The malcontent and duplicitous Edmund (Fodo Simbo) battles Edgar (Harry Redding) in one of the many brutal fights depicted in King Lear | Provided

It is not only a profound exploration of the themes of power and its capacity to corrupt, but there are also parallels all too familiar within the world we currently live in – where rapacious beings are all too happy to see society in tumult, so long as they personally ascend.

King Lear is not just a warning, nor a lesson, but it also speaks to the ability to forgive within the confines of mortality.

The Tragedy of King Lear is a brutally visceral exhibition of betrayal, yet it is in this stunning return to the Crucible as part of a double-bill with an ensemble cast that will feature in both King Lear and October’s production of Twelfth Night (starring Gavin and Stacey’s Mathew Horne) that the people of Sheffield are being treated to a series of unmissable top-tier theatre that demands to be experienced.

King Lear is currently being performed at the Crucible, Sheffield, from September 4 - September 19, 2026.

For more information and to book tickets, go to: https://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/events/king-lear