Review: King Lear

This never happens to me. I didn't like it, and I can't figure out why. Lapine is a good director, the cast are all skilled actors, and the playwright isn't too bad himself, but somehow the whole thing isn't cohesive as a story, and I sat there watching feeling nothing.

First off, I'm developing a theory that it's a bad luck to sit next to an obnoxious audience member. I sat next to a rather rotund gum-chomper, and I'd love to be able to brush that off, but loud chewing is my worst pet peeve, and I sat there listening to her cow-like masticatation through the whole first act (she left at intermission). It seems like whenever I get stuck next to someone like this (the snoring old guy with legs splayed wide, the kid who bounces on her seat and talks to mom) the show ends up being a stinker.

I'll give you the good news first: Kevin Kline is an excellent Lear. He masterfully creates the king's spiralling journey into madness, and is sympathetic enough to make you feel for him, even through all his terrible missteps. Larry Bryggman is a fantastic Gloucester, impressively matching Kline's ease with the language. The agile Michael Cerveris is perfect as Kent, Lear's servant whose unswerving allegiance could be tough to render believable in the hands of a lesser actor. A few other performers stand out: Philip Goodwin's Fool is spot-on, and Brian Avers has brilliantly crafted Edgar's journey from geeky student to Poor Tom to a courageous leader at the end.

So why did several people leave at intermission? And why was the woman behind me applying hand lotion instead of paying attention, and why were others falling asleep, and why was I so utterly unstirred?

Let's start with the three daughters. Angela Pierce just ain't my thing - her performance seemed inorganic and uninteresting, overplaying key moments rather than just making smart choices and letting us come to her. Kristen Bush is fine. I like her command of the language, and I appreciate her Cordelia not being a pushover, but I just didn't like Cordelia, and so her death felt like no big whoop. Maybe I just don't like Cordelia, period. I really like Laura Odeh, and I initially enjoyed her take on Regan as a vulnerable middle sister who defers to Goneril and gets led astray, but by the end it felt like we were watching her work really hard, and the performance seemed like "acting" rather than living believably in the role.

I had so looked forward to Logan Marshall Green's Edmund, but his performance felt overwrought, too, and so his moments of real fury or emotion felt stagey. Edmund is such a pragmatist, and there are moments where you can tell that Green gets that, but he still doesn't seem as centered and calculating as Edmund really is. Again, the "acting" thing - his work seemed effortful.

Lapine's staging is smartly executed, but feels uncompelling. The set has many levels which are made good use of - my seat was quite far over to the right side of the 3/4 house and I saw almost everything. However, it seems like the giant industrial set doesn't add much, if anything, to the story, other than providing some different exit and entrance points for the actors, and vantage points for overhearing things. The downside of the set's giant pillars and looming scaffolding is that it remains in place while Lear is raving across the countryside. It seems like we're always inside, and I wonder how much greater his suffering would affect us if Kline was given a full stage for that scene, rather than just a large patch downstage. It feels cramped and even claustrophobic for what could be a really visually sweeping show. In fact, there are times when the actors shove each other around, and I was actually worried about them falling off the platforms. King Lear has so many references to our place in the world, the stars, the country, and so much of it is outside in the open in the elements. I hungered for some kind of physical representation of all that imagery, beyond the sandbox that is the stage for outside scenes or the blue curtains that cascade down to represent rain.

So, there you have it. I guess I didn't like it because the bad just outweighed the good. There's a lot of well-intentioned effort gone wrong here, not just in one area, but scattered throughout the production. No element is a total failure, but a lot of things aren't quite working. I still think this Lear is a don't miss - Kline, Bryggman, and Cerveris together are amazing. I only wish this was the top-notch production that they deserve.

I've Got A Golden King Lear Ticket!

Here's a story for all y'all who knock All That Chat. Yeah, a lot of the posters on it are cracktards with an axe to grind, but when you have a desk job, reading has it's perks. Embarassing it is, I will admit that I check ATC several times a day. This is mostly due to how slow it's been at the office lately. I've also taken to reading the finance section of the Times and writing snarky letters to the editor of the Village Voice (increasingly stupid these days, isn't it?). I am bored.

So a few weeks ago, I noticed that someone had just posted "King Lear ticket on Shoppin' Broadway". Well! I jumped on the post, and immediately emailed the guy, begging and pleading (in a classy, dignified way, of course) for the prize to be mine. Though he preferred to trade the ticket for another performance, he agreed that if he was unable to trade it, the ticket would be mine! Lo and behold, nobody volunteered to trade tickets, and we agreed to meet. After stern warnings from my boss about men who prey on young women seeking off-broadway theater tickets, yesterday in front of the Forbidden Broadway theater, I handed over a wad of cash in exchange for one very beautiful and altogether real ticket. I embark on my journey to LearLand February 28th. Whoopee!!!

King Lear Casting Gossip

Moxie cannot WAIT for The Public's production of King Lear! Kevin Kline will play the aging monarch. Kline is at the top of a short list of older actors Moxie has a big fat crush on, ever since seeing the silly but delightful French Kiss (a certain bug-eyed actor featured in Earth Girls are Easy is also on the list). There's no doubt that he'll be incredible, and compared with some of the stage roles he's played in the past few years, which have been only so-so roles for him, Lear seems like a perfect fit.

What Moxie is even more excited about, though, is the casting rumors she's heard circulating. Logan Marshall Green will play Edmund ("Now Gods, stand up for Bastards!") and Michael Cerveris will play Kent! This is so perfect, I could just purr.

Now, who will play the women? For Cordelia, Moxie would love to see The Public cast someone with some backbone and spunk. The last thing I feel like watching is another pretty Juliet type with a lovely speaking voice and nothing interesting or edgy going on. Why not Alison Pill? Bryce Dallas Howard would also be fierce, as would Amy Ryan.


Regan and Goneril... I always think of them as the real politicians of the group, old-timey Condoleeza Rice and Hillary Clintons, if you will. If there were a god in heaven, they'd cast Tina Benko, delicious viper that she is. Being an agnostic, I guess we'll just have to wait and see.