By Chuck Graham, TucsonStage.com
photo by Tim Fuller. From left, Matt Bowdren (Edgar), Patty Gallagher (the Fool), Joseph McGrath (King Lear) and Ryan Parker Knox (Earl of Kent) share a tense moment.
Just what is it that fascinates us about King Lear, the latest of Shakespeare's creations to be raised by the Rogue Theatre.
Hewing to their love of the bare stage, this “King Lear” as directed by Cynthia Meir heightens its drama with several excellent elements. There are murders and sword play created by fight choreographer Brent Gibbs, a very convincing blinding of the Earl of Gloucester (David Greenwood) and a delightfully bouncy Patty Gallagher as The Fool, a court jester worthy of the terminally troubled King Lear as portrayed by Joseph McGrath.
Practically stealing the show is Matt Bowdren as Edgar, rightful son of the Earl of Gloucester, who becomes manic Poor Tom, a crazed disguise that he uses to perfection to avoid detection.
There is lots of subterfuge in “King Lear.” Many people are pretending to be one sort of person while actually pursuing a hidden agenda to gain some personal advantage as Lear's sizable kingdom comes tumbling down around them all
We first meet the king as a proud and powerful man with three grown daughters, no male heir and a somewhat unstable personality. Perhaps he feels guilty for failing to father a son.
Nevertheless he famously decides to divide his kingdom into three parts, one for each daughter. There is Goneril (Kathleen Cannon) the eldest, Regan (Bryn Booth) the middle child and Cordelia (Holly Griffith) the youngest.
Lear's fragile nature comes quickly to light when, after Goneril and Regan slavishly praise their father, Cordelia is overwhelmed by silence at her father's generous offer. Lear interprets this reaction as ungratefulness and, on the spot, banishes Cordelia from the kingdom.
During the next two hours everything that can go wrong does go wrong, not just for Lear but for everyone. Parallels to our own President's erratic behavior are unavoidable.
By halfway through the second act on the Rogue's stage, the body count is rising and Lear is slipping into madness, a wreath of twigs and leaves around his head.
Depicting this troubled journey calls for every emotion in the human body, which McGrath is happy to provide. By the end, he has not only earned our admiration for his acting but also sympathy for Lear, the broken patriarch's arrogance peeled away, baring the pitiful bones of fate's uncaring choices.
The subplots and machinations that Shakespeare loves so much can be difficult to follow in this production as the actors' mastery of Shakespearean language has not reached the level of earlier Rogue productions of the Bard's work.
We do get a little help from their body language and the like. Matt Walley, Ryan Parker Knox and David Weynand fare the best in getting the purpose of their roles across.
Adding essential atmosphere is Jake Sorgen's inventive use of music to create subtones that highlight underlying emotions.
“King Lear” continues through May 13 with performances at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, with additional Saturday matinees at 2 p.m. May 5 and May 12, all at the Rogue Theatre, 300 E. University Blvd., in the Historic Y. All tickets are $38. Student rush tickets (valid ID required), $15, on sale when available 15 minutes before each performance.
The show runs about two hours 15 minutes, with one intermission. For details and reservations, 551-2053, or visit theroguetheatre.org
No comments:
Post a Comment