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Theatre

Player Kings proves that Shakespeare can be funny

20 April 2024

9:00 AM

20 April 2024

9:00 AM

Player Kings

Noël Coward Theatre, booking until 22 June

Long Day’s Journey Into Night

Wyndham’s Theatre, booking until 8 June

Play-goers, beware. Director Robert Icke is back in town, and that means a turgid four-hour revival of a heavyweight classic with every actor screaming, bawling, weeping, howling and generally overdoing it. But here’s a surprise. Player Kings, Icke’s new version of Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2, is a dazzling piece of entertainment and the only exaggerated performance comes from Sir Ian McKellen who plays Falstaff, quite rightly, as a noisy, swaggering dissembler.

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