King Lear by William Shakespeare at the Public Theater. Starring Kevin Kline, Michael Cerveris, Larry Bryggman, Logan Marshall-Green, Angela Pierce, Kristin Bush, Laura Odeh, Philip Goodwin, directed by James Lapine, with incidental music by Stephen Sondheim and Michael Starobin.
We saw "King Lear" on Saint Patrick's Day. This was a particularly brutal Bridge and Tunnel Test: the crowds pouring into the city (we took the train since we could barely get out of our driveway due to a foot of snow on the ground) were enormous, rowdy, the trains were crammed, and it was even difficult to make it out of a jammed up Penn Station. But the return trip was worse -- the crowds were full of ill-behaved drunks, and in Newark, the train had to be delayed so that dozens of swarming policemen could remove the most egregious ones. Our friends agreed with us that the only thing worse than enduring such a trip after a great performance was to take it after a bad performance.
We needn't have worried - this was a "King Lear" worth the most arduous commute - worth braving all of the drunks in New York. Here was a "King Lear" to savor, a rare theatrical treat, not only memorable for the magnficent portrayal of Lear by Kevin Kline, but for the entire cast, the staging, and the magical music composed by Stephen Sondheim and Michael Sarobin. Seldom does every element in a modern Shakespeare performance coalesce as it has at the Public Theater. Much has been written about Kline's assumption of Lear. The New York Times critic found it disappointing, but Hilton Als in the New Yorker felt it belonged in the "Pantheon." I would agree wholeheartedly with Als. I've seen many famous Lears over the years including Lee J. Cobb (towering, unforgettable), Brian Cox (minimal, disappointing), Chrisopher Plummer (solid, moving, well grounded) and Kevin Kline ranks at the top with Cobb. Here at last was a Lear who made music of Shakespeare's couplets - we haven't heard this kind of mellifluous cadence in Shakespeare other than on old recordings by the likes of Robeson, Gielgud, Evans, Richardson, Tree. Kevin Kline is a more vigorous Lear than we are used to, he looks great, but this only makes his ultimate broken hearted collapse and dissolution the more shocking. The rest of the cast is unusually fine. Michael Cerveris is tremendous as Kent, Philip Goodwin gave one of the best bitter comic Shakespeare performances I've seen as the Fool, and of the three doomed daughters, Angela Pierce was particularly venemous while Laura Odeh's squeels of squeemish horror and delight at plucking out the old Earl of Gloucester's eyes gave us a shiver. Larry Bryggman was an excellent Earl of Gloucester and his scenes with his son Edgar played by Brian Avers were impressive. As Edmund, Logan Marshall-Green was a sardonic villain who commanded the stage. All of the cast spoke Shakespeare's lines beautifully and with ease thereby enabling the audience to comfortably settle into the play.
The staging was inspired - the storm scene was harrowing and Lapine's inspiration of having the three daughters appear to the addled Lear as little girls was very effective. The younger selves of his children return at the end lending added poignancy to the tragedy. The live music by Sondheim and Starobin was the best I've heard for a modern Shakespeare performance. What a treat to have the greatest living master of musical theater provide music for a Shakespeare play! Everything was working at the Public Theater on Saint Patrick's Day. It is very seldom that star actors present Shakespeare in New York with this level of success for, unlike London, top notch Shakespeare performances in New York are surprisingly rare events and are thus must-see events. Even though we staggered home at near 2-am, we were happy campers. We had seen something special - thrilling, unforgettable. King Lear at the Public Theater gets a high mark in our Broadway Bridge and Tunnel Test: A- it's a must see!