(above: rehearsal image from left to right: The Fool, Lear, and Edgar)Recently, the entire program went on a three day trip to Stratford Upon Avon and saw three amazing plays: King Lear, The Seagull (by Chekov), and Midsummer Nught's Dream.
Sir Ian McKellen played King Lear. That's right, I got to see one of the greatest actors of our time portray one of the greatest roles of all time in one of the best plays of all time. McKellen didn't disappoint, he was truly amazing. Some like to play Lear overly cocky and arrogant in the initial scenes, to make his downfall seem justifiable. McKellen treated it with more sensitivity. It's hard to put into words, but his performance in the scenes before Lear "goes mad" was a blend of stern and frivolous tendencies, and he made sure not to play the "madness" scenes as pure lunacy... His scenes with the fool were particularly wonderful. The fool was played by Sylvester McCoy, who was an adorable hobbit-sized man, who apparently has played the spoons professionally for the London Concert Orchestra at Barbican Hall! McCoy was able to switch from zaniness to tenderness in a believable heartbeat, and his death was the most haunting of all deaths in the play. He was hanged by Curan's men, and although it was plain to see that the noose was strapped to a harness on his back, it still looked very convincing when he dangled there. They left him to dangle for a while into the intermission, and finally half way though some soldiers came to take him down.
William Gaunt, (pictured to the left) who portrayed the Earl of Gloucester, stole the show for me. He was one of the few who really seemed on par with McKellen's performance, and perhaps almost exceeded him (oh blasphemy!) There was such honesty in Gaunt's performance, it barely felt like he was acting. And there was such a great blend of innocent, sweet, good-natured old man that he pulled off, which I don't think has been done much with that role, and it made the eye-gouging scene all the more unbearable. The cliffs of Dover scene was also done incredibly well, and the immense amount of pity that Gaunt had stirred in me continued throughout the entire play. He was convincing, and successfully real with the Shakespearean dialogue, which is a feat indeed!Jonathan Hyde played the Earl of Kent, which is a great role. Hyde has had some pretty terrible roles in some pretty terrible American films, such as Titanic, Jumanji, Anaconda, Richie Rich, and The Mummy (okay, maybe the Mummy isn't that terrible...) Looking at his film career, you would have no idea that he was such a strong Shakespearean actor! As my Shakespeare professor pointed out, there's not much you can do with the role, but there are several ways you can do it wrong. He didn't do it wrong at all, he was great.
I also feel bad for the woman who played Goneril, Melanie Jessop. I thought she was wonderful, and she was the understudy! It was supposed to be played by Frances Barber, but apparently she recently broke her leg while bicycling. The RSC isn't letting any professional reviewers write anything about the play until Barber heals and can resume the role. Too bad, becaues I thought Jessop was great.
My two complaints: Cordelia and Edmund. Oddly enough, these are the two most attractive actors in the play. I'm not sure if I didn't like Romola Garai as Cordelia because I've never understood the character's motives in the first scene (where she tries to mock her sister's flattery by giving no flattery at all to her father Lear), or if I just though her performance was bad. She did seem to overact at times...I guess in general, I'm just not sure how I felt about her performance, but something about it felt off. Thankfully, however, her death scene in McKellen's arms was pretty exceptional.
Edmund on the other hand, played by the dashing Philip Winchester, needed to chill out. He played Edmund as completely one dimensional, simply pure evil. Save that for Iago, dude. I don't think it's necessary for an actor to cackle before every monologue in order for me to understand that he's evil, so chill out Mr. Winchester. I remember when I had read this play, the "now gods, stand up for bastards!" speech actually stirred some sympathy in me for the character, regardless of how evil he acted. Edmund has really had a terrible life, and that speech made me realize his motives for revenge against Gloucester. Winchester's delivery of that monologue left no room for sympathy, he was too busy wringing his hands and cackling maniacally. I half expected him to start twisting his mustache and tie damsels to railroad tracks. He was clearly cast because of his good looks, which isn't usually done for the part, but did make things more believable when the two evil daughters of Lear fight for Edmund's love. Apparently, this is his debut in the Royal Shakespeare Company, and it looks like he's got a lot to learn.
I had some lengthy conversations with Brian Hazel, my Shakespeare professor, about the performance. Brian Hazel has acted in and directed several Shakespeare productions, and teaches at Oxford. So I was incredibly pleased when we seemed to agree on most aspects of this production. He did, however, seem to think that the man who played Edgar was "simply terrible." While I wasn't blown away by his performance, I didn't see anything that bad in it. He told me that most actors play Edgar as Poor Tom (the raving beggar) as if it was straight, but the audience and actors need to remember that he's acting. In fact, in his scenes with Gloucester, he merely needs to do the voice of Tom, but physically be Edgar (since Gloucester is blind.) I thought this was interesting, and I can definitely see how difficult it would be for an actor to show that your character is acting!
