King Lear, Klein Theatre, Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington, DC

 


Patrick Page as the all-powerful King Lear at the beginning of the play. Photo credit: DJ Corey Photography.

I have never been known for understatement, but I just might take the prize for what I posted on Facebook to share that I would spend the evening seeing the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s current production of King Lear: “Tonight, a little family drama.”

But I took some solace in the succinct summary in the play’s program:

Two royal families are bad at communication. The children who actually love their fathers flee, regroup, and come back. Almost everyone dies.

Many years ago, I taught King Lear in a college classroom. One of my exam questions was, “Name anyone who is still alive at the end of the play.” Due to the play’s extensive body count, it can be a challenging question.

From the moment you enter the Klein Theatre, you know you are seeing a King Lear unlike any you’ve seen before. The soundtrack plays the recognizable noise of jet engines as airplanes take off and land. We see a bare space in an industrial building with a podium, a sparsely decorated desk, and a number of flags for an unidentified nation. When the play begins, we see a caption for the location: “King Lear’s Hangar.”

Lear, aware of his advancing years, has decided to step down as king and divide his realm into thirds, one for each of his daughters. Each must declare her love for him before he assigns the territory. Goneril, the eldest, and Regan, the middle daughter, profess profound love with unctuous flattery. We aren’t fooled for a moment, but the egotistical Lear is enthralled and revels in their words. His youngest, Cordelia, is honest: she loves him as a daughter should love a father, no more, no less. Enraged that she has not poured it on as her older sisters did, Lear disowns Cordelia and banishes her. When Lear’s advisor, Kent, attempts to mediate, Kent is banished as well.

Simultaneously, another father, Gloucester, is having trouble with his two sons, Edgar (legitimate) and Edmund (illegitimate). Edmund gleefully plots against his naïve, good-hearted brother for his father’s favor. Gloucester believes Edmund’s lies, which endangers Edgar.

Things quickly go badly for Lear, who first spends time with Goneril and her mild-mannered husband Albany. Lear, still considering himself and acting like a tyrant king, has come with dozens of his rowdy men, who are unwelcome intruders. Goneril, a true shrew, forces her father to leave. He takes his Fool and a servant with him, who is actually his advisor Kent in disguise.

The scene is repeated when Lear moves on to the home of Regan and her scheming husband Cornwall. Edmund is engaging in illicit relationships and scheming with both daughters. He insinuates to Regan and Cornwall that Gloucester is plotting with Cordelia and the French army against them. A fight ensues, in which Gloucester’s eyes are gouged out. Cornwall dies at the hand of a servant enraged by the brutal attack on Gloucester.

Lear has begun to descend into madness, raging at the storms as he wanders, later taking refuge in the hull of a crashed airplane, where Lear and his Fool encounter Edgar, disguised as “poor Tom.” Edgar finds Gloucester, now blind, who entreats his own “good” son to lead him to Dover Beach, where he plans to commit suicide.



Matthew J. Harris as Edgar (disguised as "Poor Tom"), Michael Milligan as Lear's Fool, Patrick Page as Lear, and Shirine Babb as Kent (disguised as Lear's servant). Photo credit: DJ Corey Photography.


The English prevail over the French and both Lear and Cordelia are captured. Even in his weakened mental state, Lear recognizes that Cordelia is the daughter who truly loved him. Edmund orders that the two be executed. Regan is poisoned by Goneril, who has learned of her relationship with Edmund. Goneril kills herself after her relationship with Edmund is exposed, and Edmund dies a bloody death, fittingly at the hand of his brother. Before the order to execute can be rescinded, Cordelia is killed. Lear, now broken physically, mentally, and emotionally, dies, grieving for his youngest.

Three characters remain to pick up the pieces and reunite the kingdom: Albany, Goneril’s wronged husband, who has appeared to be milquetoast but recognizes the injustice heaped on Lear by his wife and her sister; Edgar, Gloucester’s “good” son; and Kent, Lear’s once-beloved advisor who remained loyal to Lear (in disguise) until the very end.

So, yes, considerably more than just “a little family drama.”

Patrick Page is a masterful and unforgettable Lear. He is the epitome of strength and confidence as a dominant Alpha male at the beginning, commanding the stage with his imperial presence. Physically and vocally, Page takes us from the height of Lear’s power through his outrage at his daughters and the degradation of their treatment of him to the edge of madness and utter defeat. Page communicates intensely with a look or a slight inflection change. This is an actor at the absolute height of his powers. Page has graced the STC stages in several previous productions. I hope he continues to work with STC, though it is difficult to imagine that he will ever be better than he is here.

As always, STC’s cast features many outstanding performers. STC regular Craig Wallace gives a heartbreaking performance as the noble, loyal, wronged Gloucester. Julian Elijah Martinez is charismatic but easily despisable as the sinister Edmund. Rosa Gilmore (Goneril) and Stephanie Jean Lane (Regan) manage the too-saccharine adoration of Lear and the heartless subsequent treatment of their father. Matthew J. Harris is strong as Edgar, transforming from a blithe do-gooder believably into “poor Tom” and then to rescuing hero. Lily Santiago is convincing as the honest Cordelia, later demonstrating steely determination plotting the French army’s attack and touchingly expressing her love for her father. Shirine Babb proves herself a master of subtlety in managing her physical and vocal disguise as Kent. Michael Milligan is both humorous and touching as Lear’s Fool.



Lily Santiago as Cordelia with Patrick Page as Lear, reunited. Photo credit: DJ Corey Photography.


The staging of the play by director Simon Godwin is bold and daring, at times moving the action off of the stage and into the theatre. He is assisted by choreographer Jonathan Goddard and fight choreographer Robb Hunter, who create athletic and intricate physical altercations and swordplay. This is a violent play and much very realistic blood is shed. (Not for the faint of heart.)

I have mentioned two of the more unusual settings for the play, the opening in Lear’s Hangar and the use of the fuselage of a crashed airplane. We also see the well-appointed homes of Gloucester, Goneril, and Regan, and a hospital room, among others. All are rendered in realistic detail, designed by Daniel Soule. 

Also doing excellent work is costume designer Emily Rebholz, who makes subtle (and not-so-subtle) character comments in costumes, which range from military garb, including camouflage, contemporary business attire, as well as flashy, and colorful contemporary wear (for Goneril and Regan, especially). Projections designed by Aaron Rhyne accent the action on the stage.

The lighting design by Jeanette Oi-Suk Yew and sound design by Christopher Shutt were responsible for creating the most realistic storm in Act III, Scene 2, that I have ever seen and heard on the stage, making Lear’s response completely appropriate:

Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow!

You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout

Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks!

You sulphurous and thought-executing fires,

Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts,

Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder,

Smite flat the thick rotundity o' the world!

 

Shutt’s sound design was never intrusive, from the pre-show aircraft movements through the storm to the battlefield. This is a masterclass in sound design and execution. Michael Bruce composed the music that underscored the action beautifully.

It is notable that this production was so anticipated that its run was extended twice before it even opened. It continues at STC’s Klein Theatre through April 8. If you are remotely interested in Shakespeare or witnessing thrillingly executed stagecraft, book your reservations quickly. You may never get another opportunity like this.


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