Shamefully late! It's been over three weeks since I saw Stratford's production of King Lear, and there is no excuse. Procrastination has always been one of my personal Seven Deadly Sins!
First of all, the short review, given by a dear friend to a server at dinner immediately after the play: "King Lear? Above and beyond...."
(These words were spoken in a voice that hovered somewhere between reverent and awestruck. The friend who said it is a long-time passionate theatre-goer and certainly is not afraid to say so when a play doesn't come up to standard or expectation!)
Now, my longer review.
King Lear is revered as one of the most challenging plays in the Shakespearean canon, partly because of the size and scope of the leading role, and partly because the play itself hovers on the verge of unreality. The mere idea that a king would decide to divide his realm among his daughters, at any period before the late 20th century, appears almost ludicrous in view of what we know about patriarchal societies in all periods of history. Thus, before one can even set to work on Lear, one has to come to grips with this question: why did he do it?
It's the tremendous variety of answers to that question found by directors and actors alike that make this play so endlessly invigorating to artists and audiences both. Certainly I have always found it so, and this marks either the sixth or seventh production of Lear that I have watched.
Among the productions I've witnessed, though, never has any taken the view that King Lear, even before the play begins, has already descended noticeably into dementia. But that is what we see and hear, right from the get-go, and thus Colm Feore as Lear is faced with the notable challenge of finding somewhere further to take a character who appears to have gotten halfway there even before he starts!
All I can say is that Feore more than rose to this challenge, and his Lear is one of the most memorable and powerful I can recall. In voice, in action, in body language, his interpretation starts strongly and continues to grow and grow throughout the lengthy span of the play. That's not to say that it necessarily gets bigger and louder throughout, but certainly he finds more and more nuance at the quiet end of the scale to match the growing power of his bigger moments.
Others may disagree, but for me the play always stands or falls (besides Lear, of course!) by the performances of two of the other roles: the Fool and Edgar. This is because of the scenes played out among these three at the dark centre of the piece. Stephen Ouimette as the Fool gave a performance carefully, casually toned to sound like no more than a collection of throwaway lines. Ironically, this underlined the Fool's utterances far more than any amount of pointing and actorial-directorial "underlining" could have done -- a fascinating choice.
Evan Buliung did excellent vocal work in changing his voice to become Poor Tom, his assumed character as a penniless beggar. His face, too, was a study in contrasting expressions, one which would be lost in a larger space but remained clearly visible in the Festival Theatre. This facial work assumed critical importance in his major scene with his father, Gloucester, movingly played by Scott Wentworth. This scene became one of the emotional highlights of the performance, as it should be but too often is not.
A surprise in the casting was Mike Shara in the villainous role of Cornwall. His main scene is the one in which he blinds Gloucester ("Out, vile jelly...."). Shara has hitherto been cast, at both Shaw and Stratford, in comedic roles -- and why not, since he is a master of comic timing? It's always fascinating to see an actor stretch into unfamiliar territory and Shara did it convincingly enough to make me want to see more of his work in tragedy in the future.
Almost as surprising was the casting of two newcomers and one second-season veteran as Lear's three daughters. These are likely to become stereotyped roles. As Joan Ganong said many years ago, "Cordelia's apt to be a bit mouselike." The other two, Goneril and Regan, often come out acting and sounding like two peas in a pod.
As Cordelia, Sara Farb was anything but a little church mouse. She played all her scenes forthrightly, with a steel backbone underlying the strength in her words of honesty, truth, and compassion. Goneril (Maev Beatty) appeared for once as a character totally distinct from both of her sisters. She came across exactly as the frustrated lady-of-the-house trying to cope with the disarrangement of her home by her father's insistence on inviting himself at the most inopportune moment. I almost expected to hear her start saying things like, "Please don't sit on the sofa, the maid just plumped up the pillows for the guests." It was left to Regan (Liisa Repo-Martell) to play out the traditional "witch-queen", which is eminently suited to her lines and to her family connection as wife of the repulsively psychotic Cornwall.
Jonathan Goad was admirable as the loyal and good-hearted Kent. Brad Hodder was appropriately disgusting as the opportunistic Edmund. Karl Ang made much of the smallish role of the King of France, who offers to wed Cordelia under her father's displeasure.
The simple settings were totally appropriate and workable without need of any fancy technical foobaz. One of the things I admire about Antoni Cimolino's directing style is the way he has turned the Festival Theatre back into a stage for actors, rather than one primarily for techies and this production was a prime example.
Not that technical aspects of the show were slighted by any means! But that was precisely where I encountered the one serious drawback in the production. The storm was convincing, powerful, overwhelming -- and made it impossible to hear the actors clearly. Throughout the storm scene I caught perhaps 6 words in 10, if I was lucky -- maybe not even that -- and I was seated in Row H, eight rows up. I wonder how people under the balcony overhang fared? There's always a loss of sound when you're seated under an overhanging balcony in any hall.
Apart from that issue, Cimolino's direction produced a powerful performance of Shakespeare's tragedy, one that allowed each character to make the most of a role while keeping the story-telling clear and opening our thoughts to the deeper implications of this challenging play. And to return to the lead role for one final thought, I would certainly rate Colm Feore's Lear alongside the great performances I've seen in the past by the likes of William Hutt, Douglas Campbell, and Peter Ustinov. Worthy company, indeed.
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