With Shakespeare’s masterpiece KING LEAR back in the West End at the Duke of York’s Theatre and starring Ian McKellen here are six mysteries to look out for at the heart of the play, puzzles which all directors and actors must grapple with during rehearsals.
- In the opening scene the aged King Lear announces his retirement from public life and proposes to divide his realm amongst his three daughters, allocating the best deal to the one who persuades him she loves him the most. But why? Is he a vain tyrant who craves flattery? is he going senile? Is it a whim? Does he consider it an inconsequential exercise, or is he cleverly testing the political intelligence of each to help choose the land’s next supreme monarch? All directors and actors have to make up their own mind what motivates Lear’s strange decision. What do you think?
- With power reallocated Lear begins a period of staying with each daughter in turn. The trouble is he intends to travel with a hundred knights. The daughters, encumbered with the cost and disruption, ban this. Are they right to, or is their father entitled to be attended like a king?
- Much mischief is perpetrated by Edmond, the illegitimate son of Gloucester, Lear’s first minister. He seems evil through and through but is their anything to justify the lies he tells and the cruelty he inflicts?
- Gloucester’s legitimate son, Edgar disguises himself as a madman to escape Edmond’s tricks. But is it all an act or is he actually losing his mind?
- The character of Lear’s fool is particularly enigmatic. How much is he trying to warn Lear through his riddles or are they actually intended to be funny? Something odd happens to him half way through. Where to you think he goes?
- Overall what would say was Lear’s state of mind by the last hour of the play? Is he aware of the full horror around him or is he going senile?
Many people have theories about theses questions but the truth is no one really knows and your opinion is as valid as anyone else’s.
Enjoy making up you own mind.
Photo Credit Johan Persson.
There was a time when we Brits lead the field with groundbreaking new musicals on both sides of the Atlantic. In the 1980s Cameron Macintosh, Andrew Lloyd Webber and pals ruled the world with mega hits like CATS,