An interview with Sam Mendes, Director of King Lear

Sam Mendes, Director talks about his critically acclaimed production of ‘King Lear’ at the National Theatre.

What enticed you to do Shakespeare and King Lear?

Well, Shakespeare wasn’t always a deep love of mine. I remember sitting in my classroom and a lazy 15 year old being forced to learn about old men that were stupidly love struck in a language I couldn’t even comprehend. It was only until I was in my late teens when I picked up King Lear and it became a fixation. I was drawn to the brutality of the play and the crushing painful realisation of how desperately flawed humanity is. Ever since then I knew I wanted to create my own perfect vision of Lear. Although King Lear is definitely one of Shakespeare most complexed plays this also fascinated me; whether or not I could take on the challenge. Shakespeare characters are intricate and developed, take King Lear for example with massive contradictive traits: childlike, cruel, sympathetic and relentlessly harrowing remains a tremendous challenge to any director and actor alike.

Why did you decide to update the costume and the period?

Shakespeare was an insightful storyteller with ancient traditions that are timeless and applicable to any audience, so right away I knew I wanted the play to feel modern and relevant to audiences today. To do so would have been challenging without updating certain aspects as Shakespearean audiences may have viewed scenes with Goneril and Regan differently due to the patriarchal society of where men were more superior to women in Elizabethan times. However due to feminism I decided to make in particular Act 1 Scene 4 a very empowering scene for Goneril and Regan as they are depicted as malicious in their quest for power where just as men can women can be also as well as being much more appropriate for modern audiences. I portayed this visually by the change of the classic and femine sultry loose dresses on Goneril and Regan to the more manly, leather jackets and dominating behaviour

demonstrating a change in gender roles and development of characterisation as well as the breakdown of the family and political structure where the women in the family have now become more powerful then men. Equally, I demonstrated this breakdown of Lear with his costume. Starting off as military leader with a commanding presence and domineering attire. But only at the beginning. Suddenly, Lear is flung from a military figure with great rapidity at that to a mere civilian left with nothing but a drooping cardigan, stripped of all of his power.

What did you want audiences to gain from your production of King Lear?

I would love for audiences to leave King Lear feeling like they have successfully understood a dysfunctional family relationship such as ones in King Lear. I would also hope that people are able to make comparisons between Lear and the contemporary, modern life we live in today where many people are agnostic or an atheist and do not base there moral code on religion. I feel like audiences now are much more likely to hold on to any event that has a spiritual element to it, whereas in Elizabethan times, the correlation and importance of the church to the state was crucial. Nonetheless, the God’s in King Lear aren’t particularly portrayed as being caring and omnibenevolent as we may assume recognise with ‘Gods’ of today! I hope this is shown to the audiences by the dramatic use of sound effects, props and light to show the impact of the God’s and the storm whereas in previous productions this may have not been viable. Through my updates within my production I hope to achieve at least one person leaving the theatre saying that, “Shakespeare is an imperative.”