Maureen Beattie leads a gender-swapped version of Shakespeare's tragedy at Pitlochry Festival theatre, focusing on family dynamics rather than the decline of a mighty ruler. The production, directed by Finn Den Hertog and designed by Emma Bailey, is set in a modern country house with paintings off the wall and wiring exposed.
Opening moments set the tone
Beattie's Queen Lear begins by walking into a room, forgetting why she entered, and wandering out another way. Later, she struggles to remember the name of her daughter Goneril. In the second half, she is slumped in a wheelchair, speaking with painful deliberation, showing the progression of her decline.
Yet this Lear can be sharp. Dividing her kingdom between Goneril (Jenny Hulse), Regan (Lindsey Campbell), and Cordelia (Ailsa Davidson), she is an articulate woman who expects respect. However, when Cordelia disappoints her, her tone is less regal than obstinate—a disappointed mother offended by an equally intransigent daughter.
Family dynamics over political tragedy
Played as a man, Lear can romanticize Cordelia; played here as a woman, she is too level-headed for that. For all she calls Cordelia her favourite, you can imagine they have clashed before, just as Goneril and Regan flash each other meaningful looks. The production emphasizes family dynamics at the expense of the wider public tragedy.
This Lear is straight-talking, not grandiose, hardly the type to have a retinue of 100 or to be bothered about downsizing. Her madness comes on quickly and feels more a metaphor for domestic decline than a symbol of a mighty monarch fallen. Even at her most frail, it feels sad and personal rather than seismic.
Supporting performances and production
Forbes Masson relishes the role of the blinded Gloucester, performing with wit and gusto, but his devotion to Lear seems to come out of nowhere. Similarly, the sexual conniving of Edmund (Reuben Joseph) and the scheming of the two older sisters lack definition. The clarity of delivery is present, but the underplaying of plot points leaves this mighty drama feeling brittle rather than tragic.
The production runs at Pitlochry Festival theatre until 1 August.
