Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – In lieu of the real thing, Stratford Festival streams from its library, starting with a magnificent 2014 KING LEAR

• By drediman
• May 14, 2020
• No Comments

Colm Feore and Liisa Repo-Martell in Stratford Festival’s 2014 production of Shakespeare’s “King Lear”. Photo by David Hou.

One of the biggest disappointments of the upcoming months is the postponement and likely cancellation of this year’s Stratford Festival season, which I was planning to attend in August. 2020 was to have been an important year for the revered Ontario-based repertory company – an ambitious 15 productions (outnumbering offerings from recent seasons) were planned across Stratford’s four stages, including highly anticipated performances at the newly reopened Tom Patterson Theatre. Like many of its peers during these unprecedented times, Stratford has temporarily opened up its library of filmed past productions for the consumption of theater-lovers during the ongoing coronavirus lockdown. Leading the pack is artistic director Antoni Cimolino’s 2014 staging of King Lear, a production I had missed but now luckily get a chance to assess (I was unable to make the pilgrimage to Canada that summer).

In short, Mr. Cimolino’s production of this pinnacle of western drama is simply magnificent. The director eschews high concept gimmicks in favor of a disarmingly traditional approach (complete with gorgeous Jacobean costuming). Presented on the Festival Theatre’s world famous thrust stage essentially unadorned by scenery, Mr. Cimolino trusts the Bard’s rich text to provide the dramatic pyrotechnics. It’s evident that he has a deep understanding of and respect for the work given how the production unfolds with a masterful sense of the play’s overall structure. As a result, this King Lear is exceptionally lucid in its storytelling and conveyance of the Bard’s language, which is the criteria by which any presentation of Shakespeare should be benchmarked. I was particularly impressed with how the production makes an impact without being excessively weighty. Indeed, there’s a refreshing fleetness to the staging that eludes many versions of the masterwork I’ve seen in the past. Overall, it’s an smart, well-balanced interpretation that I found to be exceedingly effective.

Colm Feore’s performance as the aging, mentally-addled king has been touted as one of the crowning jewels of the celebrated Canadian actor’s extensive career. Even though experiencing Mr. Feore’s interpretation of the titanic role through the computer screen can only provide a proximation of his live performance, I was nonetheless tremendously moved by his vulnerable, very human take on Lear. In fact, this human approach permeates the performances of the rest of the fine company. For example, Goneril (Maev Beaty) and Regan (Liisa Repo-Martell) were here less monstrous than when I last encountered them, and Brad Hodder’s Edmund villainously grandstands less obviously than typical portrayals of the character. In summary, Mr. Cimolino’s thoughtfully-considered production is exhilarating theater that’s among the most wholly satisfying King Lear‘s I’ve seen – now that’s high praise. Highly recommended viewing.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

KING LEAR
Theatre
Stratford Festival
2 hours, 30 minutes
Streaming through May 14