King Lear is one of Shakespeare’s most poignant works and Eamon Flack’s revitalisation of the production, The True History of the Life and Death of King Lear and His Three Daughters, is the headline of Belvoir’s season, starring the extraordinary Colin Friels in the titular role. Spanning well over three hours, this production is an immense challenge for the performers on stage and has been stripped back to very minimal staging to focus on the acting.

The house was nearly full for this production, reflecting the incredible and enduring demand for Shakespeare over 400 years after the play was first performed. There is quite a resurgence of Shakespeare around Sydney’s theatre and musical theatre scenes at the moment, with The Lovers, & Juliet and Six all playing very recently in the musical theatre space. Flack’s interpretation of this production is very character and relationship driven, with the stripped-back nature really allowing the audience to hone in on the relationships at play as King Lear decides to divide his kingdom among his daughters, which leads to havoc and ultimately tragedy.

What this production gets immediately right is the quality of the acting and the casting, which are both fantastic. Colin Friels as King Lear gives an extraordinary and masterful performance, commanding the stage with raw emotion, heart, passion and rage. Watching Friels on stage viscerally embodying the character, it’s clear to see why he’s one of Australia’s finest actors and he really makes this play.

The rest of the cast is also superb, with Charlotte Friels as Goneril and Jana Zvedeniuk as Regan putting on a fantastic double act, showing all their wickedness and cruelty. Raj Labade as Edmund and Peter Carroll’s Fool are also highlights, with Carroll especially being absolutely superb in bringing much needed humour to what is an extremely long play.

The production is also enhanced by the live band, which adds an air of ambience and additional atmosphere, with co-composers Steve Francis and Arjunan Puveendran really enhancing the mood with a modal-based score that does a good job of adding to the mystique on stage. The sets are also excellent, although minimalist, with Bob Cousins doing a good job of foregrounding the actors on stage, while James Stibilj’s costumes are strong, giving the production a modern feel.

That said, the biggest challenge of this play is that it is quite hard to follow for the audience, with not enough signposting to really bring out the complexities of the plot and with some key imagery being missing. The prose itself is excellent (of course) but for a modern-day retelling a little more context is needed for the audience. Additionally, the play is just too long for a modern adaptation and it is difficult to maintain focus for the whole show. Given the revitalised title, there was perhaps an expectation among the audience that the play itself would be reimagined a little more but it is a very true adaptation, which, in the absence of a staging that embodied and enhanced the drama, means that it does drag at times. 

Ultimately though, this is a production defined by its incredible acting performances. Friels is extraordinary and the other performers on stage also do a fantastic job of supporting him. There could have been a little bit more modernity to bring the play more interest and make it easier to follow and perhaps the play could have been more concise but overall, for sheer acting mastery, this is definitely a play not to miss.

Rating: ★★★★

The True History of the Life and Death of King Lear and His Three Daughters plays at the Belvoir St Theatre until 4th January 2026. For more information, click here. 

All photo credits: Brett Boardman