Act Reviews 2024 / 2025 Season

performance. She was cleverly tactful and firm in her handling of the petulant ‘star’. No doubt thanks to her experiences over the years of dealing with the rest of her quirky cast. Nicely played, we sympathised with her dilemmas and admired her wit and artful negotiations. Richard Hildred revelled in the pomposity of his character, Nigel Dewbury. The delivery was nicely measured and well timed, making the most of Nigel’s cutting humour and poorly disguised jealousy. Despite being desperate to play the part of King Lear himself, he did the right thing by the company (and his friends) and used his solicitor skills to negotiate the deal which saved the play. Paul Baston as the ‘star’ of King Lear, Jefferson Steel, swaggered on stage in designer sunglasses with all the confidence and self-belief of a pampered A-lister. At first, we see a stereotypical Hollywood personality with a failed marriage and distant relationship with his daughter, making ridiculous demands. It is no co-incidence that the arrogant Hollywood star is to play the arrogant King Lear. In fact, his star is on the wane and beneath the bluster, Paul started to show us a more vulnerable side to Jefferson’s character. He begins to build a respectful relationship with this “bunch of amateurs”, eventually choosing to value friendship over fame and fortune. He finally rises to the challenge of King Lear with humility and insight. Alex Wood sparkled as Jefferson’s daughter, Jessica Steel. She wanted to be part of his life but had been disappointed too many times when he chose his career demands over her. More grounded than her father, she reacted well with all the other characters she met, portraying maturity and kindness. A lovely performance. Harriet Henry played a confident Lauren Bell, whose husband funded Jefferson’s appearance in

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