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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Valley&State Backpage O&E Sports Archives Classifieds Faith&Beliefs Obituaries Revels June 23, 2004 Compassion, grace infuse 'King Lear' By Roberta Kent Tidings Reviewer When I reviewed OSF's last production of Shakespeare's "King Lear" in 1997, I wrote that it was probably the best production of the play I'd ever seen. James Edmondson starred as Lear in that production. That same James Edmondson, with Kenneth Albers as Lear, directs this season's "Lear," which opened this summer's Elizabethan Theatre season. Amazingly, it surpasses that previous production. The Earl of Kent (Ray Porter) seeks to dissuade Lear (Kenneth Albers) from disowning Cordelia. "King Lear" is usually approached as a metaphor for the chaos that occurs when the natural order of things is turned upside down. Allegory as opposed to character development. Edmondson and Albers have chosen to examine the personal tragedy - Lear as a noble and gifted ruler who in his old age has become so self-righteous, imperious and obstinate that he creates the weapons of his own destruction. With Albers' deft performance, Lear's pitiful descent into madness becomes a portrayal of the tricks that an aging mind plays, a Shakespearean examination of early Alzheimer's disease within the context of political and familial disaster. Lear's undoing begins when he decides to maintain the trappings of power without its responsibility. His plan is to divide his kingdom among his three daughters and retire to a gracious role as a pampered elder statesman. However, when his youngest, Cordelia (Julie Oda), is not as fawning as his ego demands, he abruptly disinherits her, leaving the realm to his two elder daughters, the conniving Goneril (Maya Thomas) and the ruthless Regan (Catherine Lynn Davis). Once the women have gained their inheritances, Lear is no longer of use to them. He is cast out, deserted by his followers with the exception of the Earl of Gloucester (Tony DeBruno), the Earl of Kent (Ray Porter) and the wise and outspoken Fool (Robert Vincent Frank). It remains for the loving, forgiving Cordelia, who has married the King of France, to forgive Lear's rash act and come to his rescue. Only when an agitated Lear, cast out by Goneril and Regan, rushes alone out into the raging storm does he come to see clearly what he has done to his children - and to his kingdom. As the violence of the thunder and lightning echoes his descent into madness, we watch Lear become increasingly sane and humane. Albers' Lear is a man in despair and out of this despair emerges compassion and grace. Edmondson also has given special care in this production to the subplot of the loyal Gloucester. Shakespeare has Gloucester's relationship with his children echo that of Lear. A bluff, gullible Gloucester allows himself to be convinced by his younger, illegitimate son Edmund (Jos Viramontes) that the elder, legitimate heir, Edgar (Gregory Linington), is plotting against him. Like Cordelia, Edgar must flee. To save himself, he adopts the disguise of a mad beggar, Poor Tom. Edmund then betrays his father to gain his inheritance. As Gloucester, De Bruno's path to self-awareness, an arc from insensitivity through gratuitous punishment to redemption, is a mirror image of Lear's journey. Edmondson has made some interesting choices with his cast. Catherine Lynn Davis' sadistic Regan chillingly sets off Maya Thomas' imperious Goneril. (Edmondson has Regan passionately kiss her husband, the Duke of Cornwall (David Kelly) to encourage him as he graphically blinds the hapless Gloucester). Jos Viramontes' coldly manipulative Edmund is in stark contrast to the improbably optimistic Edgar played by Linington. Kevin Kennerly similarly shines as Goneril's accommodating servant Oswald. Scenic designer Marjorie Bradley Kellogg has exquisitely carried out the play's dramatic arc. Her set starts out as a majestic, intricate and vaguely Chinese masonry wheel. As the natural order of things - political and domestic - is torn asunder, so too does the circle crack and fall until at the end of the play it lies in charred ruins. The play's pivotal raging storm has been artfully contrived by composer Sue Carney, lighting designer Robert Peterson and sound technician David K. Weberg. Of course, "King Lear" is not only a play about personal tragedy but also Shakespeare's commentary on the tumultuous political landscape of his time. Texts indicate that he began the play in 1603, when the 45-year reign of Elizabeth I was coming to an end. The first record of the play's performance dates it to Christmas 1606 at the court of James I. James had been the "legitimate" heir to the throne since Elizabeth had executed his mother, Mary Queen of Scots, in 1587. As she grew older, Elizabeth - like Lear - had become more arrogant, manipulative and irrational. She was on her deathbed before she officially affirmed James' succession. In the meantime, she encouraged intrigue among her favorites and by the time of her death, there was outright rebellion and the formerly strong English economy was in inflationary crisis. Shakespeare was eager to show that a disdain for the responsibilities of kingship and the lines of authority bring disaster. All of these elements are here in Edmondson and Albers' vision of "King Lear." But Edmondson and Albers have gone further and deeper, examining the play in new ways, giving us new insights. This "King Lear" is a remarkable achievement. Don't miss it. 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