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Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory’s King Lear is going down an absolute treat and has already captured the imagination of reviewers. Here’s a round up of reviews so far…

”...this is a Lear that appals, shocks and saddens – just as it should… This is a production that has confidence in the power of Shakespeare’s text.” **** Elizabeth Davis, Independent

“Stripped down and fast-paced, but above all on the button, this is a version of ‘Lear’ which ranks amongst the best – and amongst the best productions that SATTF has brought to the Tob Fac stage. So far.” ***** Tom Phillips, Venue Magazine

“Twelve years ago, Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory was launched with a production of King Lear. Now the wheel has spun and the lauded company return to the play, with John Shrapnel as the rash king. There are no gimmicks here; instead, all that counts is the actors and their words….every word sounds as if it had been written yesterday.” **** Jane Edwardes, The Sunday Times

“This is the most moving Lear I have seen since Richard Eyre’s National Theatre production with Ian Holm in 1997. When Shrapnel’s gorgeous voice bids us ‘Howl, howl, howl!’ I felt like obeying him. My tears started then; Lear’s last moments and Kent’s and Edgar’s final words are devastating.” ***** John Campbell, What’s On Stage
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“When Shakespeare at the Tobacco Factory launched on an unsuspecting Bristol public with this self-same tragic masterpiece at the turn of the millennium, there were just a dozen people out front on opening night. Yet by the end of the run, word of mouth had already sparked a rush for tickets and such is the company’s enviable reputation 12 years later that a sell-out is assured for the entire six weeks.” Jeremy Brien, The Stage
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“The company, under the inspired artistic direction of Andrew Hilton, opened its 2012 season with a brand new production that displays all the qualities that have made this remarkable company unique in Britain.” **** Mark Kidel, The Arts Desk
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“What Shrapnel gives us is a Lear who, even if he learns through suffering, remains a king in his own mind.” *** Michael Billington, The Guardian
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“King Lear kicks off Shakespeare Season at the Tobacco Factory – with a confidence and aptitude that comes with twelve years of producing the Bard at the very top level.”  Max Boon, Bristol 247
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’‎‘Students and sixth-formers plagued with essay questions about the Lear and Gloucester double-plot would do well to see this production….....SATTF’s production is more radical in its apparent conventionality than many a highly conceptual ‘re-working’.” Tom Phillips, Exeunt Magazine
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“And Shrapnel’s Lear, moving from authoritatively-dressed ruler, through sweaty derangement in a string vest to eventual white-clothed serenity with Cordelia, inhabits the costume changes with a path from brisk orders through flashes of insight amid a turbulent mind to ultimate understanding. Rarely has a Lear, or a Lear, so cohered in its various stages.” Timothy Ramsden, ReviewsGate
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’‎‘Shrapnel gave a spell-bounding performance of a man with a tormented soul.” Liza-Jane Gillespie, Gazette
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For more information on the production and to book, please CLICK HERE.