Shakespeare's The Life and Death of King John, to give the play its full title, is very rarely staged.
In fact, this adaptation, by newly appointed co-director of Dundee Rep Philip Howard (part of Oran Mor's season of cut-down classics) is the first production of the Bard's early history play I've seen.
Funnily enough, that obscurity may just work in Howard's favour in terms of drawing audiences in out of curiosity, especially with the corner of Byres Road and Great Western Road being Shakespeare central at the moment, with Bard in the Botanics' productions of The Tempest and Romeo and Juliet. But a minor piece of Shakespearean drama the play remains.
Sam Heughan, last seen playing the Dark Knight in Batman Live, makes for a charismatic King John, whose making and breaking of pacts with France over who has rightful claim to the English throne – and falling foul of the Catholic Church – drives the action. Anne Lacey exudes menace as his scheming mother, Queen Eleanor, but is less convincing in the role of the Pope's emissary, Cardinal Pandulph.
As barbs are traded and war waged, Citz acting intern Lynn Kennedy turns in two very contrasting and affecting performances as John's nephew, and boy-who-would-be-King, Arthur, as well as Constance, Arthur's grief-stricken mother. At 50 minutes, it's a lot to cram in, and the production, while retaining the meat of the play, comes across as rushed and confusing at times. El Razzougui as John's loyal subject, the Bastard, also seems overly marginalised here, and the drama overall never catches fire beyond surface level.
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