David Threlfall Plays Both Lear and the Fool in Manchester

David Threlfall takes on two roles — King Lear and the Fool — in Matthew Dunster's production of King Lear at the Royal Exchange theatre in Manchester, in a staging the Guardian's review describes as disruptive and at times reminiscent of Game of Thrones.

The production's most talked-about decision is structural. Dunster merges two roles for its star, giving Threlfall both the splintering monarch and the Fool who shadows him. The Guardian's review, published under the headline "David Threlfall makes a moving Lear, but why is he playing the Fool too?", frames the double casting as the production's central question — a choice that provokes even as the performance itself lands emotionally.

What drives this reinvention?

Dunster's reading draws explicitly on contemporary television. The Guardian notes that the series Succession was partly modelled on King Lear, with the family name Roy derived from the monarchic French roi. Returning the compliment, the review states, Dunster's production "centralises dynastic dynamics among the young as they plot around a splintering figurehead."

That means the tragedy's stakes register as succession politics: the younger generation circling, manoeuvring and positioning as authority disintegrates at the centre.

How does the modern setting work?

Anna Fleischle's set replaces hessian, horses and swords with jeans, car keys and handguns. The designer builds the stage world from what the review calls "spangly strings" that variously divide the performance space into:

• a nightclub
• England and France
• dungeons
• shower curtains in the storm scene, keeping theatregoers dry

That last detail signals the production's willingness to play with the Royal Exchange's in-the-round auditorium — the storm scene reaches literally into the audience's space.

The review's reference to Game of Thrones territory suggests the production leans into violence, power struggle and dynastic spectacle, matching the tone of prestige television rather than classical restraint.

Does the gamble pay off?

On the central performance, the verdict is affirmative: Threlfall delivers a moving Lear. The doubt the reviewer attaches to the evening concerns the doubling, not the acting — whether the merged roles serve the tragedy or blur it.

For Manchester audiences, the production offers a Lear refracted through the language of contemporary power drama: succession, family fracture and a leader in decline. Whether Threlfall's dual role proves a masterstroke or a distraction is the question the Royal Exchange now leaves spectators to judge for themselves.

The review appears in the Guardian's theatre coverage, dated 10 October 2026, marking the production as one of the autumn season's notable openings outside London.