It only makes sense that a play about familial bonds should be staged in a space as intimate as the Folger Theatre. In this new production of Shakespeare's "King Lear," the audience is placed in the midst of the action while the story of the mad king and his three daughters unfolds.
Director Alfred Preisser's "King Lear" takes its inspiration from ancient Mesopotamia. The costumes, designed by Kimberly Glennon, and the scenery, designed by Troy Hourie, are simple with a tribal appeal. The bright jewel tones of the costumes highlight the actors and place the set into relief. In fact, there appears to be almost no set at all, with only the Folger's reproduction Elizabethan theater as backdrop. This simplicity actually contributes to the play, because it removes the spatial division between the actors and the audience.
The actors make an excellent use of the space. From the moment the lights dim, Ty Jones, who stands out in the role of Gloucester's sly illegitimate son Edmund, saunters through the theater, casually sweeping the floors and engaging the audience. Throughout the play, the actors climb into the seats and run down the aisles, making the audience feel as though they are witnessing the action not as paying patrons but as participants. In this small space, the audience almost becomes a part of the king's troubled family.
Andr? De Shields stars as Lear, aptly making the transformation from a smug, powerful king to a mourning, disheveled father. De Shield's performance is powerful but loses its effectiveness as the play progresses. The end of the second act is where the play falters, as it begins to lack the emotional intensity that drew the audience into the first act.
Luckily, the production has many strong performances. Christina Sajous plays Lear's youngest daughter, Cordelia. She embodies the headstrong youth who is resentful of her father's entreaties for grandiose words of affection, and Sajous' Cordelia is graceful and emotionally raw.
Her sisters, played by Chantal Jean-Pierre and Deidra LaWan Starnes, are sassy and conniving. In one of the play's most visually creative scenes, the sisters stand on small scaffoldings that revolve around and eventually move in on Lear. This staging is a powerful visual manifestation of the daughters' power over their father. It also creates a sense of danger and urgency that is lacking later in the play. The charismatic Jones and Ken Schatz as the Fool provide comic relief. Schatz's performance is flamboyant but not overdone. As a clever fool, he highlights the king's own foolishness.
Though subtle, the production's lighting and music complement the tempestuous story. Shayshahn MacPherson sits above the stage, playing the violin, drums and other instruments in a sparing and haunting style. The backlit stage is submerged in crimson red as Lear is confronted by his scheming daughters. Together, the music and lights imitate a storm, making one mindful of the forces of nature acting on the king and the other characters.
Perhaps it is this emotionally visceral element that makes the first act so powerful, which ultimately is the downfall of the play. As the characters are suffering from internal struggles, the actors fail to project these struggles to the audience. Therefore, the audience's strong feelings in the first act wane as the characters lose their sanity, strength and humanity, leading to a lackluster and somewhat disappointing close.
