Flashes of Lightning

Kean – The genius who made acting real.

Edmund Kean is acknowledged as the greatest-ever Shakespearean actor, and the world’s first superstar. He is also credited with being the first actor to bring naturalistic acting to the modern era, breaking the hold of the tragedian-style as perfected by masters such a Kemble.

The status given to the first actor of the British stage meant that one was immediately in the company of gentry, all the way up to and including the Royal Family. But unlike other first actors, Kean was lower class. Born of a prostitute mother and drunkard father, he could not shake off the shame of his humble beginnings and rebelled against the inherent snobbery of the age. He was himself a drunkard and womanizer and indulged in all forms of outrageous behavior, with scandal his constant companion. Such was his power on stage, however, he was still regarded as the greatest actor in the Empire - this, when he was also short and quite plain-looking - the antithesis of the classic tragedian actor.

When his excesses became too extreme he attempted to take refuge on tour in the US. Here he was met with such moral outrage and derision that there were mass riots and the Boston Theater was burned to the ground.

Kean had a contemporary and ally - that other controversial man-of-words - Lord Byron. But Kean was hell-bent on cramming as much passion into a short life as possible - for a flame to burn so bright it must also burn shorter.

It seems that every era has a Kean-like figure, and so too does modern Hollywood. In “Flashes of Lightning” Kean is mirrored by Nick Lathuro, an American superstar who travels to England, and despite howls of protest is contracted to play their greatest-ever actor. Just as Kean was not accepted by the gentry, yet triumphed, so too must Lathuro overthrow his doubters and take his place as the leading actor of the age.