I was sad not to have won a ticket during the Public's run of Much Ado About Nothing at the Delacorte Theater - I dutifully entered the virtual lottery quite a bit but never won. I have my fingers crossed that I'll win a ticket for King Lear - it started previews this week and it stars John Lithgow, who I always greatly enjoy. Let's all cross our fingers that I win tickets, shall we? More good energy out into the universe is always a good idea.
I've seen three other productions of Lear in the past few years. I thought it might be fun to post those reviews, since the productions came pre-blog. Of course, now this blog post will be ever so long. I hope you enjoy reading more about my ideas about King Lear than you ever thought you'd need to know. And hopefully I'll be adding one more review to this list before the run at the Delacorte closes...
(from 2006) I went to the matinee yesterday of King Lear, with Andre
de Shields as Lear, at the Classical Theatre of Harlem. I enjoyed the production very much. I had never
been to this space before and I thought the director did an excellent job of
staging the often-unwieldy text in a very limited playing area. Even the
audience got in on some of the action (some of it worked, some of it
didn’t). I also liked many of the directorial touches, which helped to
tell the story briskly and interestingly, but didn’t impose any false theatricality
on the production.
On the whole, I thought the acting was very good.
Everyone knew what they were saying and spoke very well. I wasn’t fond of
the gentleman playing Kent, but he at least also knew what he was saying and
told his story well. He just got a little carried away at times,
especially during the storm scene before he whisks Lear off to Dover. He
was actually a little bit terrifying. Albany got a little carried away
himself, especially in his last scene. You could just see his actor
subtext: ‘oh boy! I finally have a big scene! I’m going to
ACT now!!’ But, in a way, it worked for a character who is described as
being a milksop at the beginning but now finds he has the answers to everything
in his hands. Andre was a little over-the-top at times as well, but again,
since the story was being served, it didn’t bother me in the least. He
even has a nude scene which was very striking in its power, yet over-the-top at
the same time. Andre is instrinsically regal, so
he made a fine king. (I found this photo on the internet without a photo credit - I will remove it if so asked.)
I really enjoyed the kid playing Edmund—instead of the usual
cliché playing of Edmund as a moustache-twirling villain, he played him as a
charismatic, funny, sexy bad boy, who got carried away by his physical effect
on people and by the disappointment he felt at the rejection by his
father. It was a very interesting take on the character, I thought.
His father was played, interestingly enough, by Ted Lange, of Love Boat fame.
I thought he underplayed the role a bit much, but again was clear and direct in
his speech and intention, so it was fine. And the scene where Gloucester
gets his eyes gouged out: wow. Really gross. And really
effective. The sisters were also really good, though I thought Cordelia
was a little too affected in her first scene. But I was very moved by her
last couple of scenes with Lear and the end choked me up.
I really liked the Afro-Caribbean touches, from the tribal
costumes to the music/drums used throughout the play. The opening scene
in the court was just terrific. The set was mainly platforms that they
moved around throughout the play, to especially great effect in the scene where
Regan and Goneril are both rejecting Lear and he has realized what he has
done. Oh, and the guy playing the Fool was super. He came out and I
thought, ‘wow, did Backstage put out an ad calling for really odd-looking guys to come audition? This guy looked like he should be playing the Fool
all the time!’ But then, during curtain call, I had to really look to
find the guy. He looked completely different! So some really good
physical work from him. I’m going to keep my eye on a lot of these
actors. I’m also really thinking about heading up to their production of
Marat/Sade in the spring. It will definitely be interesting. I
say if you like Lear, which is admittedly an acquired taste, you should go.
*
(from 2007) Saturday night I saw King Lear at the Public. I
should point out that not only is one of my (imaginary) boyfriends, Michael Cerveris, in the
show, but it stars my very first (imaginary) boyfriend, Kevin Kline! He and I started
dating in the early ‘80s, when Sophie’s Choice and Pirates of Penzance were
released. I even had a scrapbook! I know, I know. I’m just on this side of the stalker thing…
Anyway, the show is not completely successful. After seeing
the vital and locomotive production that was done early this season at the
Classical Theatre of Harlem, this one seems even more anemic. If nothing
else, shouldn’t Lear be a visceral experience? This one was entirely
too reasonable.
 |
| photo credit: Sara Krulwich |
Cerveris is quite good as Kent and Larry Bryggman as Gloucester is excellent. He generally is. Pretty boy Logan Marshall-Green had some good moments as Edmund, though he underplays a bit too much. I mean, come on, Edmund is NOT subtle! Hello! Read the script!
The daughters? I really haven’t the faintest idea what
they were doing. They were all dewy-eyed and crying through most of their
scenes. Really? Regan cries and feels remorseful for everything she
does? I don’t really see that. I guess it’s an interesting idea,
but it didn’t work for me. Plus, the gal playing Regan had a stuffy nose
the entire show from crying all the time. Iambic pentameter spoken
through a stuffy nose—not so attractive. And the gal playing Cordelia,
though lovely, did not seem to be comfortable onstage. Someone needs to teach her what to
do with her hands. Preferably not ringing them constantly.
Maybe I’m too hard on them. You know me, I take master
classes with teachers from the RSC and suddenly consider myself an
expert. But, you know, some of the stuff I learned really just makes
common sense. For instance, if someone takes the time to write a
particular word or phrase six or seven times in one speech, doesn’t it make sense
that it’s an important word/phrase? And perhaps should be stressed for
its importance? I don’t know. Perhaps I expect too much.
*
(from 2011) Hi, everybody! I went last weekend to a preview of
King Lear, starring Sam Waterston, at the Public Theater. My, the
renovations at the Public are amazing! Having more than three bathroom
stalls was almost a religious experience!!
Anyway, the show. I’m a bit at a loss about how to
describe it. I reasonably enjoyed myself and think it’s a perfectly fine
production of Lear. I thought most of the actors were quite good, and the
action was quickly-paced and very clear. But there wasn’t much resonance
for me and I’m struggling to figure out why.
Maybe it was the space—the show is in the Martinson, which
is the really long theater downstairs with a very shallow playing area.
It seemed like there was never enough room and everyone was on the stage at the
same time, whether they were in the same scene or not.
Maybe it was the set (such as it was)—I didn’t enjoy, in the
extreme, the chain link curtain that was used as the prominent set piece.
It looked cool at first, but as each scene was played, after the actor came in
and out through the curtain, it would rock back and forth and continue to
‘clink clink clink’ throughout the scene. It started to become very
distracting. The curtain was on a track and would move forward or back,
depending on how much playing space was needed at the front. Clink clink
clink. Then (and here comes a staging spoiler), during the storm scene,
it all came crashing down. Well, ok, that was pretty interesting, for a
minute, but I don’t think it justified all the annoyance throughout the first
act.
Maybe it was the placement of the intermission—I don’t
remember seeing a Lear with the intermission after the blinding of
Gloucester. That seems really late in the game to me. The first act
was a tad over two hours, then we had a little over an hour left in the second
act. I didn’t really think the show felt too long, but…I don’t
know. And if that’s where the intermission usually is, well, perhaps it
just didn’t work for me this time.
Maybe it was the direction: I think maybe the first
act was paced TOO quickly. Everything kept racing along and it was hard
to develop a relationship or even any feeling about anything, it was all
happening so fast. I realize that when you have a two hour plus first
act, things need to move, but this really sped by. It almost became comic
(and the audience did start laughing at pretty inappropriate moments).
The second act was a bit more leisurely, and I could start to empathize with
all the horrible things that happen, but I think by then, I hadn’t been engaged
enough to REALLY feel.
 |
| photo credit: Joan Marcus |
I feel like I complained a lot, and I honestly did enjoy myself. I just wish I had liked it more. Is it possible to enjoy a production but not really like it? If so, I think that’s what happened here. Maybe after more performances, it will take off. I hope so.
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