Nonverbal Theatre of Gesture with an all-female cast

Awarded Director of the Year (Shu-wing Tang) and Perfomer of the Year (Cecilia Yip for her portrayal of King Lear) at the International Association of Theatre Critics (Hong Kong). Nominated for Best Sound Design (Anthony Yeung) in the Hong Kong Drama Awards.

The old irritable King Lear wants to divide his kingdom among his three daughters but ends up banishing Cordelia, the youngest one, who really loves him. Unable to meet his commands, Lear’s two other daughters reject him at their homes, so Lear goes mad and wanders through a storm. Trying to rescue her father, Cordelia returns with an army, but they lose the battle, leading to the death of Lear and all his daughters.

Internationally renowned director, Shu-wing Tang, returns to London after his productions at  Shakespeare’s Globe in 2012 and 2015 and at the New Diorama Theatre in 2017. Tang’s King Lear is a non-verbal theatre transcending the boundaries of Shakespeare’s plays but remains quintessentially Shakespearean.

An international cast featuring all female performers from Hong Kong and the National Theatre Marin Sorescu of Craiova promises to deliver a rarely seen and provocative performance of this classic, built on a highly minimalistic and stylised aesthetics created by a team of visionary artists from the city of Hong Kong.

This production premiered in Hong Kong in 2021 and was performed in Shanghai in 2023. The performances at Riverside Studios mark the production’s UK premiere and the beginning of a tour, with dates in Craiova, Romania; Berlin, Germany; and a return to Hong Kong for the 1st edition of International Shakespeare Festival in Hong Kong.