Our bouffon inspired 90 minute production of King Lear for @thersc is currently travelling to schools, community venues and theatres in the far-flung Southern edges of the of the UK from September to December 2025 - from the Isles of Scilly to the Isle of Sheppey, through Skegness and Stratford-upon-Avon, where we made it. Many audiences are seeing Shakespeare for the first time. It’s also an opportunity for our young audiences to reflect on Lear’s disastrous leadership and think about how we might make the world a better place than it is right now.
The title was chosen through consultation with young people and communities across the country - finding out what was resonating for them, and selecting a title that reflected back those preoccupations - in this instance with justice - climate crisis, failed leadership and a tension in relationships between parent and child. It was an inspiration to both edit and make the play with the voices of those people, young and old, resonating in my ears. I am grateful to the @thersc for such a radical piece of listening at the heart of their programming.
It’s also been a joy to work as Director with an outstanding creative team -
Set & Costume Designer: @anishafields
Sound Designer & Composer: @arunghoshmusic
Choreographer: Martin Hylton
Bouffon Director: @carohorton
Dramaturg: @stewartwpringle
Epilogue: @jasminegardosi
Company: @nkhanisep@oliver_senton@vigss.o #LeonaAllen
@realmichelemoran #ScottBrooksbank @devenmodhauk@lee.drage
#MandeepGlover
Production: #DanAvery #EleanorDavison #AbbyWarne #PhoebeThorn
Stage Managment: #CosmoCooper #ChloeDanielleRobson @faith.to_
Dress Rehearsal photos @lucy_barriball_photography
26th & FINAL DAY - I always feel so fired up by France’s revolutionary “Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité” motto - & then I start to deconstruct what those words hold now - I saw this on my last day in Antibes - #streetartist @cesar.malfi & @jenmillerw on the money
. . . & snatches of the Cannes Film Festival on all sides - helicopters flying in, vintage sports cars lined up at the port; couples strolling/ tottering the early evening streets in black tie and flamboyantly coloured evening frocks; police preventing mere mortals from crossing the roads as cavalcades of black BMWs with darkened windows stream through. Probably much like Cleethorpes on a Bank Holiday . . .
DAY 17 - le nomade, public art looking out from Antibes harbour (a bit of a cheat, actually - it’s from the day before, I’ve just shut myself away for a few days, so no photos . . . )
