Queen Lear by William
Shakespeare, Melbourne Theatre Company
MTC
Sumner Theatre, July 12 to Aug 18, 2012
Reviewer: Kate Herbert on July 12
Stars: ***1/2
CHANGING THE GENDER OF SHAKESPEARE'S tragic monarch from male to female was always going to be a
challenge and Rachel McDonald’s production, Queen Lear, succeeds only in part,
mainly because of several compelling performances.
Not the least of these is
Robyn Nevin’s riveting portrayal of the ageing Queen Lear who begins as a
dignified, elegant and arrogant sovereign, slides into childish debauchery
followed by rage and self-pity, then degenerates into despair and psychosis.
Little is altered in the
text apart from ‘he’ changing to ‘she’ and ‘Sir’ becoming ‘Ma’am’, but much
more changes in the meaning with these small shifts in language.
What is missing is the
emasculation of an old man who lived with unquestioned power but is now
overthrown and demeaned by women and, worse, by his own daughters.
Yes, both lived with the Divine Right of
Kings, the loyalty, deference and fear of subjects but, somehow, it feels as if
an old man, an ancient King, has further to fall and his defeat is more
crushing.
We miss the doting old
father whose power and masculinity is shattered when his beloved Cordelia denies
him.
The father-daughter
relationship differs from mother-daughter in that fathers may idealise their
daughters whereas mothers identify with them.
Queen Lear’s madness
becomes more specifically like schizophrenia because the Fool, although appearing
intermittently as a girlish, anonymous presence, is represented as voices that
only the Queen hears.
Sadly lacking is the
Fool’s companionship, confronting advice and wisdom, his position as the only
person courageous or trusted enough and speak the truth to the autocrat.
The production is set in
an abstract, vacant, prison-like space (Tracy Grant Lord), interrupted by
lengths of chain dripping from above and rigs adorned with barbed wire.
Genevieve Picot and
Belinda McClory are exceptional as Lear’s grasping, older daughters with
Picot’s Goneril controlled and conniving and McClory’s Regan sleek, passionate
and dissembling.
Less successful is
Alexandra Schepisi’s depiction of Cordelia, Lear’s favoured, youngest daughter.
Although her final scene with Lear is affecting, her vocal weakness diminishes
Cordelia’s sincerity and she does not effectively capture her potent,
principled character.
Robert Menzies is a
highlight as loyal, dutiful Kent, balancing deference and age with hilariously
insolent invective directed at Goneril’s slippery servant Oswald, played by
Greg Stone.
David Paterson’s Edmund,
bastard son of Gloucester (Richard Piper) is suitably ambitious and deceptive,
but also interestingly cool and glib. As his betrayed brother Edgar, Rohan
Nichol is not vocally connected to the text until his final scenes with
Gloucester.
Nicholas Hammond is
composed and brutal as Cornwall and Greg Stone’s wheelchair bound Albany is a
rational, mild voice amidst the cruelty.
One theme of this play is
youth deposing age, and the unembellished scene between Nevin’s crazed Lear and
Piper’s blinded Gloucester is a poignant lament for their lost dignity.
McDonald’s direction
takes some successful risks but lacks light and shade, the highs and lows are
insufficiently differentiated so we lose the extremity of the tragedy of
Shakespeare’s play.
It misses the chaos of
the blasted, stormy landscape to which Lear escapes and the resultant contrast
with the opulence of her court.
The production allows
Shakespeare’s comedy to shine, but the through line and style of the production
lack coherence and the anachronistic costumes are sometimes distracting, but it
is distinguished by some fine individual performances.
By Kate Herbert
CAST
Robyn Nevin
Nicholas Hammond
Belinda McClory
Robert Menzies
Rohan Nichol
David Paterson
Genevieve Picot
Richard Piper
Alexandra Schepisi
Greg Stone
Director Rachel McDonald
Designer Tracy Grant Lord
Lighting Niklas Pajanti
Composition Iain Grandage
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