Why
Lear? Why Now?
King
Lear is a challenging play to produce. Long, deep,
unconventional, difficult to stage, dark and bloody, with precious few moments
of levity. It is not produced nearly as often as the other great Shakespeare
tragedies.
Until recently.
Suddenly, King
Lear is everywhere. Shakespeare in the Park in New York is doing Lear. Royal Shakespeare Company.
Stratford Festival Theater in Canada. England’s National Theater. Frank
Langella was just Lear at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music. Theater for a New Audience in New York. Shakespeare
on the Shoreline is producing Lear in
Guilford in August. And, of course, Middletown’s ARTFARM is opening a two week
run of King Lear starting July 17.
Why is King
Lear suddenly the Romeo and Juliet of
the 2014 Season?
The two word answer is Baby Boom, which has matured
into the Grayby Boom. Lear is about
aging and the decisions that people make around aging. It starts with a poor
decision made by an aging, ailing monarch in regard to his three daughters. The
initial act of wrathful poor judgment – disinheriting his youngest and favorite
daughter for failing to express her love for him with enough sugar – leads to a
series of decisions by his family, friends, rivals and caregivers that ends
with a stage full of corpses.
Raise your hand if issues around aging are a part of
your life right now. Your own aging? Your aging parents, grandparents, mentors,
friends? We are living in the first years of the Age of Aging, an Era in which
terms like Assisted-Living, End of Life Decisions, Palliative Care, Dementia,
Probate, Do Not Resuscitate and Power of Attorney are suddenly becoming as
prevalent as productions of King Lear.
Lear
was
written over 400 years ago, and the story is set in pre-Christian Britain, yet
the proud, disoriented and unpredictable King is as recognizable today as our
own aging father. The chaos created by the powerful monarch’s abdication and
descent into dementia is a mirror of what so many families are coping with
today. Move down to the ground floor, take away the car keys, sell the house,
move into a facility, call hospice, write the Living Will, talk about funeral
plans. People love people who get old, who get sick, who die. Nobody gets out
alive. As the German writer Goethe said, “An old man is always a King Lear.”
King
Lear is being produced all over right now because it is a
reflection of what we, and our society, are going through right now. Shakespeare,
well presented, helps us to feel the depth of our own experiences by connecting
us to universal truths of the collective human condition.
Connecticut
Lear productions this summer:
ARTFARM’s Shakespeare in the Grove on the campus of
Middlesex Community College in Middletown, featuring 80 year old actor John
Basinger as Lear. July 17 – 20 & 24 – 27. www.art-farm.org
Shakespeare on the Shoreline on the Guilford Green,
featuring David Richman as Lear. August 6 – 10. www.shorelinearts.org
4 comments:
Whatever your age or stage, you will kick yourself if you miss seeing John Basinger as King Lear in this production by ArtFarm. Even though we live in an area rich in theater, you aren't likely to see a better performance, in such an accessible version, anytime soon.
Hike before the play! (Keeps you young!)
The Connecticut Forest & Park Association will lead a hike on the trails around MxCC prior to tomorrow's (Sunday's) performance, followed by a brief talk about "King Lear" by Dic Wheeler.
Details: bit.ly/LearWalk
I've seen every ARTFARM show and I think this is the best work they've ever done. It is such a consistent production with high quality in all the roles so you can focus on the story. Nice work! The strawberry frozen yogurt at intermission was good too.
Congratulations to ArtFarm and John Basinger on a wonderful production. Thank you for a great evening.
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