King Lear at the National Theatre: the understudy arises
When Paapa Essiedu stepped up at the National Theatre, it was like seeing a football team go on to win after having a star player sent offOne of the pleasures and perils of live theatre is its volatility: a production can differ between one performance and the next because of the weather, the mood of the audience or " most dramatically " the absence of a lead actor. By cruel coincidence, two of London's biggest shows…