The Guardian's review praises Titus Halder's Sheffield Crucible production of King Lear, with 82-year-old Ian McDiarmid delivering what the critic calls a titanic and heartbreaking performance in the title role. The casting matters because McDiarmid is unusually age-appropriate for a character described as "fourscore and upward", allowing him to combine genuine physical frailty with the vocal power the role demands, a balance most productions solve by casting middle-aged actors instead.

Richard Kent's stark, pit-like set evokes a nuclear aftermath, echoing Peter Brook's existentialist mid-20th-century versions, while the production draws out Lear as an erratic, transactional demagogue whose moods swing unpredictably, at times drawing knowing laughter from the audience. Supporting performances singled out include Max Revell's acrobatic, breakdance-influenced Fool, Fode Simbo's charismatic Edmund, Bebe Sanders' dignified Cordelia and Mark Holgate's Yorkshire-inflected Kent. The show runs at the Crucible theatre, Sheffield, until 19 September.