Lear

In 2004, I directed Shakespeare's tragic masterpiece "King Lear." At the last minute, I played a part, too - Kent, his loyal companion.

"Loyal" hardly covers it. In the opening scene, Lear banishes the one of his three daughters (Cordelia) who actually loves him, and splits his kingdom between the other two, trusting that they will take care of him in his retirement. Kent tried to stop his king from this foolishness, and was also banished; however, he disguised himself as a lower-class fellow, shaving off his long hair (that is, big ugly wig) and affecting a rough accent. In this disguise, he gets back to the place he feels he belongs, at Lear's side.

In this 9-minute scene - one of the role's big moments - Kent picks a fight with Oswald, the servant of one of the two "evil" daughters ... for he perceives Oswald has had a part in poisoning the minds of others against the king. The other daughter and her husband do not take kindly to this, and, after Kent tries and fails to explain - letting his mask slip in the process, before he remembers to "affect a saucy roughness" - he is punished for his insults. Kent believes he is beyond punishment, for he serves the king ... but that holds no weight any longer. In the final moments of the scene, he speaks to the audience, reading from a letter from Cordelia - she is now married to the King of France, and she is going to send troops to help Lear. But will they be too late?

If you're familiar with the Shakespeare play, you may notice I've changed some words. This was an adaptation, or "translation" of the original play - trying to retain most of the language and all of the flavor, while being just a touch easier to understand. If you're still finding it hard to follow ... well, be glad I didn't try to direct (and act) the original words. :)

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• grant
• fitch
• lear
• shakespeare