Act I
Gloucester and Kent (Douglass Watson) enter together,
with Edmund standing apart from them until Gloucester motions him forward. King
Lear enters with sword in hand. He leans on the sword as he delivers his first
big speech. The map is spread out on the floor. Lear seems very serious even
before Cordelia says “Nothing.” This production follows the Folio version in
having Kent say “Reserve thy state” rather than the Quarto’s “Reverse thy doom.”
On “O vassal,” Lear raises his sword as if to attack Kent, but is held back.
As Lear and his retinue exit, one man comes over to embrace Cordelia, that
being the Fool. (The Fool in this production is older, with white in his beard,
but not as old as Lear.)
This production uses the eighteenth century emendation “top
th’” in place of “taw th’” or the Folio’s “to’th” or the Quarto’s “tooth,” and
in the same line Edmund hits on every syllable of “legitimate,” getting a laugh
from the audience. Paul Sorvino is excellent as Gloucester when he turns to
Edgar after reading the letter and asks, “Conspiracy?” Gloucester takes out his
sword just before “I’ll apprehend him.” Edgar then takes the sword from him and
re-sheathes it on “if you violently proceed against him.” Raul Julia does a
great job with the “This is the excellent foppery of the world” speech, though
I have mixed feelings about his gesture after “lecherous.” And rather than “Fut,”
he makes a sort of fart noise to accompany the gesture.
Kent’s disguise is mainly the shaving off of his beard.
By the way, Douglass Watson does an excellent job in the role. There is a great
moment between Lear and the Fool (Tom Aldredge) after the Fool asks, “Can you
make no use of nothing, nuncle?” Lear gives him a look that lets us know he
knows precisely what the Fool is referring to, and pauses as if controlling
himself so as not to respond in anger. James Earl Jones is fantastic here. The
Fool does cut an egg in two, and puts one half of the shell on Lear’s head as a
crown. Lear simply looks at the Fool, who takes it off again. I love Goneril’s
looks toward the Fool.
Act II
When Edmund tells Edgar to draw, Edgar is too distracted
and Edmund himself draws Edgar’s sword and hits that sword against his own to
create the sounds of a fight. There are some nice moments between Regan (Ellen
Holly) and Edmund, showing Regan’s interest in him.
The exchanges between Kent and Oswald (Frederick Coffin)
are totally enjoyable. After Kent is put in the stocks, a man rushes in, hands
him the letter, then rushes out.
Edgar says he will grime his face and so on, but he’s
already done so to a certain extent. He enters the scene shirtless, shoeless
and filthy. So it seems odd for him to describe the disguise he will adopt when
he’s already adopted it, or at least part of it. He does take off his pants as
he speaks, however.
James Earl Jones is excellent in the scene where he
begins to lose it, upset that Kent is in the stocks, upset that Regan and
Cornwall do not attend him immediately. And then he displays a heartbreaking
vulnerability when speaking to Regan. And I love his delivery of “I prithee,
daughter, do not make me mad.”
Act III
The first scene, with Kent and Gentleman, is cut.
The storm is done by a constant rumbling and also by some
lighting cues, but mainly shown by the performances of Lear and the Fool.
On his line “But where the greater malady is fixed,” Lear
touches his head with both hands. When we see Edgar at Tom, his disguise has
reached a more extreme state than when we last saw him, with straw in his hair
and eyes drawn on his forehead. Rene Auberjonois is wonderful as Edgar,
completely immersing himself in his Poor Tom role. Lear imitates, adopts some
of Edgar’s gestures, as if learning from him, which is excellent.
After the Fool says he’ll go to bed at noon, he lies down
with Lear and Poor Tom. When Gloucester enters, Edgar gets up and scurries off.
Gloucester’s blinding is perfectly savage and cruel. The
servants’ lines at the end of the scene are cut.
Act IV
When Edgar enters, he has returned to his earlier state,
still dirty and near-naked, but without the straw and the eyes drawn on his
forehead. When Gloucester says “O dear son Edgar,” Edgar takes a half-step
toward him, a nice moment.
Albany (Robert Stattel) is wonderful in the second scene.
I especially like his quiet delivery of “What have you done?”
The lines about the Marshal of France are cut, as are the
last few lines of the third scene. This one ends with Kent’s “Will in
concealment wrap me up awhile.”
Regan’s final lines from the fifth scene are cut.
Gloucester pauses before going over the cliff, and then
he drops rather than jumps. So you can read it as allowing himself to fall to
his death or as fainting. The reunion of Lear and Gloucester is touching, and
there is humor in the scene as well. Men enter slowly and surround Lear. He
then leads them in a chase upstage.
Lear is carried in on a bed by four men. He begins to sit
up after “I will not swear these are my hands.” The following lines, “Let’s
see./I feel this pinprick,” are cut. When Cordelia tells Lear he must not
kneel, she and Kent help him to his feet. And, of course, when Lear recognizes
his daughter, it is a powerful moment. The lines about Edgar are cut from the
end of the scene.
Act V
Edmund says, “Know of Albany if his last purpose hold”
rather than “Know of the duke if his last purpose hold.” When Edmund delivers
his speech about Goneril and Regan, an ominous war drum is heard.
The drums continue through the second scene, where we
focus on the blind Gloucester while the battle occurs off stage.
When Edmund commands his men to take Lear and Cordelia
away, Lear picks up the ropes that bind them as if to hold for a moment to
speak with Cordelia. Then, when he is ready to go, he gives the ropes a gentle
shake, as if to motion his own horse forward – a superb moment, showing Lear
back in charge of his life even as others take him to prison. Goneril’s “If
not, I’ll ne’er trust medicine” gets a laugh from the crowd. Rather than throw
down a glove, Edmund spits at Albany’s feet before saying “There’s my exchange.”
Edgar enters masked. Then before the fight he removes the mask and both he and
Edmund are blindfolded, which is odd. They fight blindfolded. Some lines are
cut, and we go from Edmund’s “And shall perchance do good” right to the
Gentleman’s “Help, help!” Goneril and Regan’s bodies are not called for, nor
brought on stage. Lear’s “Howl, howl” is spoken rather softly, not shouted.
Oddly, the line announcing Edmund’s death is cut. Lear points to the back of
his shirt when asking to have the button undone, and Kent steps forward to undo
it. Lear is standing at this point, and when he says “Look on her,” he is
facing upward and points to the sky, an interesting choice. So then when Edgar
says, “Look up, my lord,” it is as if he is seeing Lear’s ghost where Lear had
just seen Cordelia’s, and so perhaps the two are joined. Edgar speaks the last
lines of the play, as in the Folio.
The DVD contains filmographies and theatre credits for
several cast members.
