DC Theatre Scene: The Globe Theatre, launching its tour of America with a stint at the Folger, has created a King Lear for our times. I have seen noble Lears, pathological Lears, fragile Lears, arrogant Lears, and Lears who have combined all of these characteristics in one. But the Lear which Joseph Marcell and director Bill Buckhurst give us is a little king, who alternates between entitlement and rage, who radiates self-pity like a blast furnace radiates heat, and whose greatest talent and defining characteristic is manipulation.
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I had an opportunity to go the Globe theatre back in May 2013, and saw a production of The Tempest, which was an experience beyond any other that I’ve been a part of. Getting slapped by Caliban I would say was the best part about it. I find it interesting how this King Lear is viewed as, with the fact that they start out mingling with the audience. I know with every production there are always some good and some not so good, but hopefully the not so good, doesn’t take away from the experience. As well as the fact that there were only eight people in the cast; what I would give to see something like that. I don’t believe in my experience have I seen a Shakespeare production with so few a cast, but it is the Globe we’re talking about. The only time I’ve something similar was the 39 Steps in the West End about that same time. What makes this production of King Lear even more so remarkable is their US tour, which comes through Philadelphia on the 24th, so just to be able to be a part of that, would be an experience too good to pass up.
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