The Cast of Lear – Part 2

King Lear opens THIS WEEK! Let’s meet the second half of the cast!

 

 

STEPHEN PAPPS as Kent

Kent is the loyal dog to the king – and dogged he is. He is true to Lear even when at odds with him. A true servant yet a maverick.

He is brave and strong: “I have watched and travelled hard. Sometime I shall sleep out the rest I’ll whistle!”

When Michael Hurst offered me the part of Kent I thought he was talking to someone behind me: Kent is a muscular character, whom I had never entertained playing. Michael Hurst was being typically unpredictable. How could I refuse. I am very excited to be working with him and this intriguing cast on one of the greatest ever tragedies.

 

 

 

 

 

ANDREW PATERSON as Edgar

Edgar is such a challenging roll, to go from being hunted, to being mad, to looking after his father, to coming back to revenge his wrongs. It’s a rather big journey to go on each night. He is a great joy to play as you get to play a wide range of personas in the space of a couple of hours. In this production there are some exciting decisions that I think will help bring this text forward into the modern day and help people understand it better or perhaps in a new way.

EDGAR: “When we are born, we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

GUY LANGFORD as Edmund

Whilst often referred to as a villain, Edmund is actually a hero, who does everything he can to restore what’s been unduly taken from him.

I’m excited to play Edmund. He’s a great role for an actor – full of lies and backstabbing – but he’s charming and witty too.

To play in a Michael Hurst production has always been a dream of mine. As a teenager and young aspiring actor, I was blown away by his modern and edgy productions of Hamlet and Macbeth. King Lear is certainly going to wake Circa up!

 

 

 

 

TODD RIPPON as Albany

I have played a lot of bad guys without much of a conscience in my career as an actor. But this time Michael has cast against type, which I thank him for. The Duke of Albany is an interesting character in King Lear. Although he turns out to be on the right side of the moral fence, he has character flaws that directly affect the action of the play by allowing the other characters’ wickedness to thrive. By the time he realizes his mistakes and the devastating repercussions they’ve had on the land and especially the King, it’s too late.

Although Albany has a number of great lines to say, my favourite would have to be

“O, Goneril. You are not worth the dust which the rude wind blows in your face.”  As an actor, when you say it out loud at Albany’s entrance in Act IV Sc. 2, it places you smack in the middle of the emotion you need to play the scene. It perfectly describes the situation, the characters, and their attitudes towards one another using very few words.

 

 

 

 

PETER HAMBLETON as Cornwall

“Leave him to my displeasure …. the revenges we are bound to take upon your traitorous father are not fit for your beholding”

What a privilege to be part of this epic production of Shakespeare’s greatest play – led by the peerless Ray Henwood, and directed by national treasure Michael Hurst!!

If the sensational firsts days of rehearsal are anything to go by, theatre goers will be talking about this experience for years to come.

 

 

 

 

NICK DUNBAR as Oswald

Excerpt from Oswald’s diary:

April 18th- rain and more bloody rain

“….a time of peace my arse! There is no peace in this godforsaken house. The old man is clearly losing it, putting us all on edge with the next random outburst of some unknown offense. What is his f#@%&@# problem? His knights bandy about him, hiding their true feelings, and scarce knowing how they can possibly stand the old c#&*. Much worse, day and night the idle old fool wrongs my lady. He is blind to the fact he is losing favour with her. I will stay true to her of course. She knows her favours are not lost on me, nor mine on her….”

 

 

 

King Lear 14 May – 18 June
Circa One
Phone: 04 801 7992 to book