Battle of the Bastards makes best of Auckland Theatre list 2013
The Year in Review:
The Best of Auckland Theatre in 2013 - Top
Ten Plays
via The Lumiere Reader
Battle
of the Bastards (David Ladderman)
This little comedy show I walked into without knowing anything
about it stunned me. David Ladderman's retelling of King Lear is
one that I wish hit bigger-anybody studying King Lear should see it
and anybody who hates Shakespeare should see it. Hilarious and
unexpectedly engaging.
* * *

I knew nothing about Battle of the Bastards (Auckland, through
until May 4; Wellington, May 15-18) going in, other than that
it was going to be something to do with King Lear. Based on that
vague description, I was already keen. And if that description
makes you even the slightest bit keen, I encourage you to go and
see this show without reading the review. It's more than worth your
time and money. It's a hilarious piece of comedy, a brilliant feat
of showmanship, and a beautiful piece of theatre.
Without giving too away much, Battle of the Bastards centres on
one of the subplots of King Lear: specifically, the story of
Edmund's betrayal of his brother, Edgar and his father, The Earl of
Gloucester. Starting off with an energetic, relentlessly charming
warm-up and introduction to the show, David Ladderman tells this
part of one of the most famous plays in the world. And he makes it
really, really funny.
The show lives on Ladderman, plain and simple. I can't imagine
Battle of the Bastards working without his enthusiasm, his presence
and his goofy charisma. It's hard enough to get a white,
middle-class audience in central Auckland to get worked up as it
is, but to get them worked up about Shakespeare-and King Lear for
that matter-is a miracle. Ladderman's enthusiasm for his material
is infectious. I'm not sure how often he's performed this show, but
it felt like the first time in the very best way, and it makes the
audience just as enthusiastic. Our awkward crowd went from not
really knowing what they were getting, to wanting the next scene,
the next punch line to come along. It's obviously a credit to
Shakespeare's play and how ironclad the structure is, but it's also
a credit to Ladderman's talents as a performer.
In Battle of the Bastards, Ladderman gets to not only portray a
variety of characters from Lear, namely Edmund, Edgar and
Gloucester, and does it with his own spin that's as inspired as any
I've seen, but he also gets to be damn funny. It's hard to describe
the comedy of Battle of the Bastards, but Ladderman makes his whole
endeavour gut-bustingly funny, whether it's poking fun at the text,
the audience's unfamiliarity with it, or the audience itself. He's
laughing at himself as much as we are, and not in a way that seems
arrogant or amateurish, but in a way that involves us and makes us
part of the show and the experience.
I could go on about Ladderman's brilliance for hundreds of words
and I'm tempted to, but it's easier to just go see the show. Less
than a week into the NZ International Comedy Festival and I'm
tempted to call it one of the best. It's definitely one of the most
inventive, intelligent shows you'll see in the festival.
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