Shakespeare for Breakfast - Fringe Review

Thomas Levi
7 days ago
2 min read

★★☆☆☆

Shakespeare for Breakfast serves up King Lear told through an episode of The Traitors, served with coffee and a croissant. It's a concept that immediately grabs your attention and, on paper, feels perfectly matched to Shakespeare's tale of banishment and murder. The execution, however, never quite fulfils the premise's potential.

This year's production reimagines King Lear as a reality television competition, with Lear deciding which of his daughters deserves his fortune while the contestants secretly scheme to eliminate one another in true Traitors fashion. Shakespeare's original dialogue is woven throughout alongside contemporary references, musical parodies and sketch comedy, creating an energetic collision of Elizabethan tragedy and modern pop culture.

The deception, alliances and family politics of King Lear slot surprisingly neatly into the mechanics of The Traitors, and the adaptation finds plenty of opportunities to draw clever parallels between the two worlds. When it leans into broad sketch comedy, it becomes consistently entertaining, with the musical numbers providing welcome bursts of energy that keep the audience engaged.

The biggest obstacle is accessibility. The production assumes a level of familiarity with King Lear that many audiences simply don't have. Without a brief prologue explaining the original story, key plot points arrive with very little context, making it difficult to understand why characters are making certain decisions or why particular reveals matter. Leaving the theatre, 90% of the conversation around me involved audience members explaining the plot of King Lear to friends who hadn't understood the play. An adaptation should invite audiences into Shakespeare's world, not expect them to arrive with homework already completed.

Most of the characters feel thoughtfully considered, from Lear's resemblance to King Charles to Edgar and Edmund's feuding sibling dynamic, and Gloucester, blinded by a straight black fringe. Claudia Winkleman, however, is transformed into an aggressive New York businessman, complete with a thick accent and an oversized cigar. It's a bizarre decision that never finds a comic justification and feels disconnected from the rest of the production's internal logic.

There is plenty to enjoy here, particularly for those who already know King Lear and can appreciate the inventive adaptation. Those looking for an accessible introduction to the tragedy may leave more confused than enlightened. Thankfully, the croissant fulfils 50% of the title’s promise, even when the Shakespeare doesn't quite do the same.