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A CurtainUp Berkshire Review
King Lear
By Elyse Sommer
| If thou wert my fool, nuncle, I'd have thee beaten/
for being old before thy time. —Fool How's that?—King Lear Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst/ been wise.—Fool |
Dennis Krausnick
(Photo credit: KennethSprague) |
Jonathan Epstein
(Photo credit: KennethSprague) |
Jonathan Epstein as Lear & Kevin G. Coleman as the Fool in th 2003 production at Shakespeare & Co.
(Photo: Kevin Sprague) |
Because of scheduling conflicts I didn't get to see this latest Lear when it opened. If truth be told, I've seen enough Lears, including Law and Order's DA Sam Waterston, to react with a ho-hum to the prospect of another 3 hours with the father who misjudges his daughters and suffers the consequnces. Still, having summered in the Berkshires for some 20 years and watching Shakespeare & Co's productions in the company's first home and more recently in its lovely Elizabethan venue on Kemble Street, I didn't want to miss seeing Dennis Krausnick who, unlike Jonathan Epstein, waited until he was old enough to be a natural choice for the part every actor sees as the capstone of his career. While perhaps not a name or performance that would spring first to anyone's lips when asked to name their favorite Lear, Krausnick certainly brings passion and nuance to his turn at the role. Nor would this production's overall rank at the tippy top of my most memorable presentations.
Director Rebecca Holderness's production does have a new wrinkle. She's opted to set the story in Tsarist Russia. She explains her reasoning in the program as follows: "I have set this production in 1906 Russia in order to recall a time in recent memory when the errors, both public and private, of a great and passionate ruler led to the demise of a family, an empire, and a way of life. Sometimes illuminating and often surprising, the setting serves as a visual landscape where we acan see the greatness of the fall from power and frame precincts of madness and risk." I don't quite buy into this concept as the dialogue is true to the text and contains references to British places that contradict the Russian tie-in. But okay, Lear's tragedy is a universal story of false concepts about love and loyalty and the Romanov's too were a doomed dynasty. At any rate It makes for gorgeous costumes (a shout out for Govane Lohbauer).
Aside from the questionable Russian twist, Holderness's direction is well paced and clear. Sandra Goldmark once again manages to create a fully staged look with minimal scenery, Seeing Lear within a week of The Tempest once again made me appreciate the pleasures of seeing a true repertory company strut its diversity.
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King Lear By William Shakespeare (written between 1603 and 1606, later revised) Directed by Rebecca Holderness Cast: Thomas Brazzle (Duke of Burgundy/ Ensemble), Caroline Calkins, (Maid/ Ensemble), Kevin G. Coleman (The Fool), Jonathan Croy (Earl of Gloucester), Timothy Douglas (Oswald, Steward to Goneril), Jonathan Epstein (Earl of Kent), Kelly Galvin (Cordelia), Dennis Krausnick (King Lear), Zoe Laiz (Herald/ Ensemble), Peter Macklin (Edmund, bastard son of Gloucester), Corinna May (Goneril), James Read (Duke of Albany), Eric Sirakian (Kent’s Gentleman, Ensemble), Brendan Sokler (Captain/ Ensemble), Enrico Spada (King of France/ Ensemble), Alex Stewart (Cornwall’s Servant/ Ensemble), Bill Watson (Duke of Cornwall), Ryan Winkles (Edgar), Kristin Wold (Regan) Set Design: Sandra Goldmark Costume Design: Govane Lohbauer Lighting Design: Matthew E. Adelson Composer/ Sound Design, Peter Bayne: Fight Choreographer: Michael F. Toomey Voice and Text Coach: Elizabeth Ingram Production Stage Manager: Hope Rose Kelly Shakespeare & Company Tina Packer Theatre June 16 to August 19 Running Time: Approximately three hours with one intermission Reviewed by Elyse Sommer August 3rd |
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