The late great literary critic Harold Bloom described King Lear, along with Hamlet, as “a kind of secular scripture,” likening the two Shakespeare tragedies to such epics as the Quran, Paradise Lost, The Iliad, and The Divine Comedy. One wonders, then, what Bloom would make of the latest two-hour, intermission-less Lear, presented by KBTC (the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Co.), The Shed, and Fiery Angel at The Shed in Hudson Yards, starring Branagh as the mad Solomon-like king. Is slashing this notoriously long—usually three-and-a-half hour—piece considered sacrilege?
Bloom also thought Lear was better read than performed (do with that what you will). But in the spirit of making the play more stageable—or making a production more palatable to potential audience members—a bare-bones script is an inspired idea.
However, if you’ve never read or seen the play, you’d do well to read the CliffsNotes beforehand. Everything starts clearly enough: King Lear (Branagh) storms onstage and declares that he’s dividing and turning over his kingdom to his three daughters, and demands to know which one loves him the most. The eldest, Goneril (Deborah Alli), says she loves him “more than words can wield the matter”; middle daughter Regan (Saffron Coomber) kisses his butt similarly, also disingenuously; the youngest, Cordelia (Jessica Revell, also doubling as the puckish, wide-eyed Fool)—who’s standing a few steps behind her fawning siblings—refuses to spit out a flowery speech. “I cannot heave my heart into my mouth,” she shrugs. “I love your Majesty according to my bond; no more nor less.” Lear flies into a rage and disinherits her; the King of France (Stefan Brennan-Healy), moved by Cordelia’s honestly and grace, proposes even though she’s poor; and the elder sisters begin to plot against their father.
[Read David Finkle’s ★★★☆☆ review here.]
Then, a man comes out with a major monologue about being a bastard: “Why brand they us/ With base? With baseness? Bastardy? Base? Base?” As we learn once his father enters, this is Edmund (Dylan Corbett-Bader), the illegitimate son of the Duke of Gloucester (Joseph Kloska). But unless you really know Lear you’re likely to spend that whole bastard speech—one of Shakespeare’s best (so much alliteration!)—wondering who the heck he is…because this production cut the very beginning of the play, when Gloucester literally introduces Edmund to Lear’s friend Kent. That short scene is also where Gloucester mentions his legitimate son, Edgar, who we’ll meet later. A minor detail, perhaps, but even veteran theatergoers who have seen a number of Lears over the past few decades were confused by Edmund’s sudden soliloquizing. If, however, you’ve seen the play, say, a dozen times, you’ll be just fine.
Branagh—who’s trimmed down his own part quite a bit—has surrounded himself with a cast of recent graduates from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (where he graduated and recently served as president), which means, inevitably, a few actors simply seem too young. Eleanor de Rohan, for instance, proves a plucky Kent, Lear’s longtime friend, but lacks the gravitas for such an essential supporting role; and one wishes that Kloska telegraphed a bit older, in order to better emphasize the parallels between Gloucester and Lear (both betrayed by their children; Gloucester loses his sight, Lear his mind). They do all look great in Jon Bausor’s Neolithic-chic costumes though.
At first, Branagh, who directed with Rob Ashford and Lucy Skilbeck, doesn’t even seem old enough to play the title part; he’s just over 60 but looks even younger. He’s cut the line where Lear describes himself as “fourscore and upward”—i.e., more than 80 years old. So this is no aged, feeble monarch on a slow crawl toward death. Rather, he appears to be suffering from an unspecified illness; at one point, he has some kind of stroke or aneurysm. His grief over losing Cordelia is fierce and palpable, and he elicits more sympathy in two hours than some Lears in nearly double that time.
King Lear opened Nov. 14, 2024, at The Shed and runs through Dec. 15. Tickets and information: theshed.org
