INTERVIEW: A Digital Pint with… Pip Utton, on King Lear, Getting Older, and Red Wine

We’re counting down to Prague Fringe by shining a light on a number of shows headed to the festival next week. Writer-Performer Pip Utton’s one-person biographical shows have been a Fringe staple at Edinburgh, Prague and across the world for years now. We managed to catch up with Pip for a pixelated pint to find out more about why he’s decided to take on King Lear for Prague Fringe 2025.

You can catch Pip Utton – King Lear as part of Prague Fringe from May 28th-31st at A Studio Rubín at various times. Tickets are available through the Prague Fringe Box Office.

Jake: Hi Pip! We last caught up with you at last year’s Prague Fringe when you performed At Home with Will Shakespeare. Tell us a bit about what you’ve been up to since then.

Pip: Hi Jake, it’s been a busy year. I made my Paris debut, at Comedie Francais playing Chaplin and Hunchback, Slovakia playing Adolf, Spain playing Adolf and Bacon, Luxembourg playing Bacon, Netherlands playing Adolf, Dickens,  Netherlands filming a new Dutch TV series, and UK playing A Christmas Carol.

This year a little bit of TV Netherlands with Hunchback and Cyrano, and now PRAGUE!

Jake: You’re taking on King Lear, infamously one of Shakespeare’s most complex characters to portray. Tell us about why you’ve decided to do it now, and what you’ve learnt along the way.

Pip: It is a very complex play and Lear is a difficult character to get to grips with. To manage it I have had to cut a lot from the script and give Lear lines from other characters while still remaining true to Shakespeare. I’ve even used a few lines from other Shakespeare plays. But I have not tried in any way to make it modern.  I’m now old enough I think to understand Lear’s frustration at getting old and seeing your place in the world being taken on by others. I think I’ve learned a lot from that.

Jake: What are you hoping the audience might take away from the experience, if anything?

Pip: I hope the audience will feel as if they have spent time with an old man who is crumbling as he sees his world crumbling around him, and empathised with his feelings of becoming irrelevant in a new world. Unlike many Tragedies there is no redemption at the end for anyone.

Jake: Tell us about how the show has ended up being performed at Prague Fringe, and what you’re most excited for about the festival.

Pip: The legend that is Steve Gove and I have been friends for a very long time. We have a great love and respect for each other and each other’s work (at least, I have) Prague has become for me the opportunity to try new work, redevelop old work and get to spend time with, and watch young creative and enthusiastic performers, and a chance to meet  up with a few dear friends. It’s the place to be anytime of the year, but to be able to perform there and enjoy the wonderful city at the same time is unmissable.

Jake: Given the themes of Binge Fringe, if your show was a beverage of any kind (alcoholic, non-alcoholic – be as creative as you like!), what would it be and why?

Pip: I hope my show will be a deep, dark red wine. Full of character and leave a long lasting pleasure on my audiences taste buds (how corny is that!) If I could combine that alongside a dry fizz, all would be perfect.

A reminder, you can catch Pip Utton – King Lear as part of Prague Fringe from May 28th-31st at A Studio Rubín at various times. Tickets are available through the Prague Fringe Box Office.