"It’s Shakespeare Jim,
but not as we know it"
Content Warning:
This piece contains vivid depictions of
Very Poor Parenting.​
SPOILER ALERT:
At the end of Shakespeare’s play, Lear dies.​
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His last words are “Look, there”
His faithful follower and protector, Kent, wishes him a speedy release.
“Break heart”, he urges.
What I’m wondering is: what happens then?
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Come on, we all wonder that, sometimes, don’t we? What happens after you die?
Well, that’s where this show starts.
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Some reviews of the Show
“Hurley’s performance is a tour de force… He engaged with the audience brilliantly… well worth watching” ​
North West End ****
“Saw Lear’s Shadow on Friday, f**king brilliant, best thing I’ve seen in years”
“One of the best pieces of theatre I’ve ever seen”
“…on the edge of my seat…”
“…a mad genius…”
“…a superb one-man performance. Throughout the 75 minute performance, Hurley captivates” Theatre and Arts Review ****
“It was brilliant, funny (very funny) cheeky, moving and stirring.
A perfect cocktail.”
“A belter of a show”
“Just seen the utterly brilliant Colin Hurley give a masterclass of a performance in his one man show “Lear’s Shadow”. When it’s on again. All my actor and ex student actor friends and anybody else must see this virtuoso of a Shakespearean actor lighting up the stage”
“…beautiful…”
Hurley delivers a surprising, irresistibly human and comic Lear. This is more an ordinary man with a man’s vanities and vulnerabilities, yet there is an air of decayed nobility about him… Lear’s Shadow is a consistently engaging distillate of Shakespeare’s iconic tragedy. It may come from behind the weighty tragedy, but it throws light onto its darkness.
...
British Theatre Guide
“Colin Hurley’s one-man adaptation/exploration/reimagining of Shakespeare’s Lear.
It is superb.
If you like Shakespeare, or if you hate it, do yourselves a massive one and go and see this.
It is illuminating, heartfelt and brilliant.”
“…brilliant, funny, thoughtful, inspired, imaginative… I could go on. … thoroughly enjoyed every one of the 75 minutes”