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Thursday I went to the Brandeis production of King Lear (Shakespeare). Although I'd read the play for freshman humanities (UHUM, anyone?), I hadn't seen the play performed until now. And this was not a traditional production, either. It's done as the mind meanderings of an old man in an institution (hospital? nursing home? mental hospital?), and though I think there were weak moments, overall, it worked.
The set was mostly doors, with three 'to scale' (those right trapezoidal doors designed to give the sense of greater depth) on either side, stepped (if that's the right term), and a pair of doors along the back, in addition to the two entrances through the audience. It gave the cast a lot of flexibility for entrances and exits, and meant there could be much walking-through-with-intent by hospital staff. In the second act, the side doors moved back to a line, and the back doors moved to reveal a bloody backdrop.
The set was minimal. Nothing was permanently on stage, just props coming through. Lear was in a wheelchair, as was the Fool (a customized wheelchair, in the sense of having a rear-view mirror attached, and many places to carry things) and Kent, when he was serving the king incognito. There was something akin to a dentist's chair for the bloody scene, and an all-body something-scan sort of machine for when Kent was manacled. Lighting was good, in the unobtrusive sense. I don't remember anything noticeable (other than sets of lights on either side of stage where there are usually chairs), no special whizz-bang effects.
Costuming was excellent. Lear was in his hospital garb, as were the medical attendants. The rest of the cast was in lovely (Edwardian? Victorian? I wish I knew) costume for most of the show. There were some most excellent hats, and Regan's rig included impressive corseting (in the white, undergarment way, rather than some of the more overgarments I've seen for sale at cons). In the second act, the lords and ladies were in more modern dress, the descendants haggling over what they can get (or get away with) from an aging parent.
And the play itself. Three daughters, two adept in guile, one not, and she of course unable to explain to her father her lack of words when words are demanded. And once Lear has split his lands between Goneril (I always think she sounds like a disease) and Regan they have no further use for him. Instead of giving himself a carefree end of life, he has doomed himself to horrible privation. There are subplots, of course, and wheels within wheels. And in good tragic fashion, almost everyone is dead by the end.
Other things that stood out: the actor who played Lear was excellent. The scene with the blinding was horrible, even without the actor facing the audience. I'd forgotten it was onstage; I cringed, and averted my eyes. The run time: intermission was at 9:50, and the play ended a bit after 11, which is a bit too late for me. Some of it was the play (though I think it's the director's task to edit appropriately for the production), but some was the stylized movement of the actors, who all walked and moved in particular ways. It struck me as a rather tai-chi Lear, actually; I can't describe it better than that.
Final verdict: good, but not outstanding.
The set was mostly doors, with three 'to scale' (those right trapezoidal doors designed to give the sense of greater depth) on either side, stepped (if that's the right term), and a pair of doors along the back, in addition to the two entrances through the audience. It gave the cast a lot of flexibility for entrances and exits, and meant there could be much walking-through-with-intent by hospital staff. In the second act, the side doors moved back to a line, and the back doors moved to reveal a bloody backdrop.
The set was minimal. Nothing was permanently on stage, just props coming through. Lear was in a wheelchair, as was the Fool (a customized wheelchair, in the sense of having a rear-view mirror attached, and many places to carry things) and Kent, when he was serving the king incognito. There was something akin to a dentist's chair for the bloody scene, and an all-body something-scan sort of machine for when Kent was manacled. Lighting was good, in the unobtrusive sense. I don't remember anything noticeable (other than sets of lights on either side of stage where there are usually chairs), no special whizz-bang effects.
Costuming was excellent. Lear was in his hospital garb, as were the medical attendants. The rest of the cast was in lovely (Edwardian? Victorian? I wish I knew) costume for most of the show. There were some most excellent hats, and Regan's rig included impressive corseting (in the white, undergarment way, rather than some of the more overgarments I've seen for sale at cons). In the second act, the lords and ladies were in more modern dress, the descendants haggling over what they can get (or get away with) from an aging parent.
And the play itself. Three daughters, two adept in guile, one not, and she of course unable to explain to her father her lack of words when words are demanded. And once Lear has split his lands between Goneril (I always think she sounds like a disease) and Regan they have no further use for him. Instead of giving himself a carefree end of life, he has doomed himself to horrible privation. There are subplots, of course, and wheels within wheels. And in good tragic fashion, almost everyone is dead by the end.
Other things that stood out: the actor who played Lear was excellent. The scene with the blinding was horrible, even without the actor facing the audience. I'd forgotten it was onstage; I cringed, and averted my eyes. The run time: intermission was at 9:50, and the play ended a bit after 11, which is a bit too late for me. Some of it was the play (though I think it's the director's task to edit appropriately for the production), but some was the stylized movement of the actors, who all walked and moved in particular ways. It struck me as a rather tai-chi Lear, actually; I can't describe it better than that.
Final verdict: good, but not outstanding.