"More sinned against than sinning"...King Lear @ BAM

Back in college I had to do a comparative research paper on the subject of Shakespeare's King Lear and the chapter of the King James Bible known as the Book of Job. Saturday afternoon I kept that paper in mind as I sat and completely enjoyed Frank Langella's interpretation of the medieval king who in an act of  hubris and  ultimate power decides to divide his kingdom between his three daughters, so he can retire with his hundred or so knights and followers and free himself from a world cares.

Not so fast. In his act of fancy, which everyone can see is folly, everyone except Lear until it is too late and his "thankless" children turn on him, this once powerful King, who could beckon, summon, and dispatch with a wave of the hand, falls from his high perch of royalty and sinks into the mud of his land where the realization of his wantonness drives him mad. Unlike the Bible story of Job, Lear brings these sorrows upon himself. In so doing we, as the audience, get to witness a most extroverted and public introspective interrogation of what it means to be human.

Rising fumes of smoke and falling mists of vapor all combine to create a magical atmosphere where the play unfolds under the sure and steady direction of Angus Jackson. Truly a fine set and costume design scheme full of earth tones and odd geometric shapes indicative of a country still emerging from the rough hewn dark ages where pagan gods are worshiped and astrology is the most advanced science.

Robert Innes Hopkins' thrust of a set seemed an extension of the deconstructed BAM Harvey itself.  A wooden slat platform in-lay centered midst a multilevel mash-up of stone and brick masonry served double duty as the playing stage for the first scenes and as the divided map of England. Once the platforms are pulled up after Lear is banished to the heath by a callous and sadistic Reagan in cahoots with the cold and calculating Goneril, this map becomes metaphor and allows the copious deluge that follows to be contained.

The performances from lead characters to silent servants are all nuanced and relished by each actor. It was a joy to see a player with a line or two make the most out of each breath. I think I could write an entire paper entitled "The Cordelia Problem" where I would join the debate and express my own ideas about this character. The actress, Isabella Laughland, ably portrays her as valiant, honest and wronged as I have seen her mostly played in the past. Which leads to the shock of Lear's incredulous rebuke. I often wonder how it would look if Cordelia, young in spirit and most like her father, is haughty, defiant and openly scorns her sycophant sisters by refusing to act anything like them. Principled and disdainful of hypocrisy, as Lear himself probably is, Cordelia's own wanton act would mirror that of her father and thus no move to appease him is made. After all, she is her favorite. An act so miscalculated as this would be all too recognizable to a modern audience where well mannered people understand the danger of expressing one's unfiltered thoughts in a court of kings. So, one tragedy begets another, and another. From Edmund's duplicitous deceptions, to Gloucester losing his eyes and so on to the sad conclusion.

I don't know why I love Lear so much. This production made me love it more and  is truly worth the ticket price.