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Stacy Keach Makes Lear Live at Harman
article by Brad Hathaway, photos by Carol Rosegg
O
ne dad disowns and banishes one daughter while basking in the patently insincere protestations of devotion of his two
other offspring. Another dad loses one son to the
plotting, planning and forgery of another. Happy
Father’s Day!
The Shakespeare Theatre Company chose dad’s
116 ★ HillRag | July 2009
day to have the critics in to see their latest production at the Sidney Harman Hall across the
street from the Verizon Center – apparently they
suspect critics are either childless or parentless, I’m
not sure which.
The production is a staging of Shakespeare’s
“King Lear,” which was originally directed in his
home theater by Tony Award winner Robert Falls, artistic director of the Goodman
Theatre in Chicago. Since “Lear” is to fathers as “Medea” is to mothers, it made for
a strange way to celebrate paternity.
Falls brings star Stacy Keach with him,
along with longtime Shakespeare Theatre
company member Ed Gero, to play the
two tragic dads in one of Shakespeare’s
most famous tragedies. As one expects of
Falls, this is a visually arresting production
that flows smoothly from one spectacle
to another.
Keach is a world-famous star and a
name that draws audiences. With a face
familiar from so
many film and television appearances (You
do remember “Mike Hammer,” don’t you?) and a
voice that can fill a hall with a whisper or roar with
abandon, he has a stage presence that can fill up a
momentary lull in a scene and the good sense to
know when to avoid drawing attention to himself,
which comes from decades of dedicated work at his
craft. (A reviewer’s full disclosure: Keach and I
knew each other in our youth but haven’t kept in
touch.)
Keach is no stranger to Washington. Two-time
recipient of Helen Hayes Awards for productions at
the Kennedy Center (including this year when he
won for his sterling work as the disgraced former
president in “Frost/Nixon”) Keach is remembered
most vividly by Shakespeare Theatre
Company audiences for his “Macbeth.” That was 15 years ago, however.
This older actor is no less vibrant and
no less vital, but there is a collegial
touch in his Lear that marks the performance as part of a team effort.
Not that there aren’t moments
when Keach commands every eye in the
house. There are, and they are every bit as
impressive as you expect from a big star in a
big role. But here he adds an ability to work
with his colleagues to make their big moments work just as well as his.
There is a notable but subtle aspect to
Keach’s performance that deserves attention. Many big stars in big roles deliver
strong, even memorable performances from
the moment they enter until the moment
they exit, but somehow you can feel them
switch it on and switch it off in the millisecond they come on and off the stage. It
is almost as if you can feel that they have
been standing in the wings for their cue.
Not Keach. He enters as if he’s long existed
in the world of the play, and he strides off
not to the wings but to continue whatever
his character is doing.
Superb Support
So many of Shakespeare’s sprawling stories have so many moments for supporting
players that a strong ensemble is imperative. “King Lear” is no exception, and that is
where the strength of the Shakespeare Theatre Company comes in. There are at least a
dozen characters crucial to the story being
told, and there isn’t a single performance
in a key role in this production that doesn’t
ring true. Indeed, only two of the dozen
aren’t either from the original Chicago production or experienced Shakespeare Theatre
Company performers.
As in Chicago, Gero begins the festivities with his inebriated, hearty presence at
the party for his king. It is fine contrast to
the tragedy that lies in store for him – as
Gloucester he is blinded and left stumbling
off to the white cliffs of Dover, where he
wants to commit suicide, but ends up being
unceremoniously dumped into a mass grave
on the battlefield of one of England’s innumerable wars.
Three fine actresses created very different personalities for Lear’s daughters in the
Chicago production, and all are back for the
Washington run. Laura Odeh’s strength of
character is such a contrast to her waif-like
physicality as the daughter who declines to
butter up old dad, while Kate Arrington and
Kim Martin-Cotton could make a season of
”Desperate Housewives” out of the sisters
who flatter.
Among the males of the daughters’ generation, the standout is Juaquín Torres, who,
as Gloucester’s legitimate son forced into
exile by his evil half-brother, goes disguised
as a beggar. At times, his disguise is simply
a dirty, straggly wig as he strips down to
nothing but smeared mud while intoning
Shakespeare’s text: “my face I’ll grime with
filth; Blanket my loins: elf all my hair in
knots; And with presented nakedness outface the winds and persecutions of the sky.”
At times he doesn’t get so much as a blanket
for his loins.
Torres isn’t the only one to bare a backside – or a frontside, for that matter. Even
Keach prances about in the altogether as
his Lear loses his faculties over accumulated misfortunes.
Striking Visuals Aren’t Always Pretty
Falls is known for strong visual design,
and he certainly has the team to deliver the
goods with Walt Spangler (set) Ana Kuzmanic (costumes) and Michael Philippi
(lights). However, he doesn’t go for the
“pretty” in this ugly story of family feuding,
jealousy and royal rivalry. You get a warning
right off the bat when you enter the theater,
for the first set – a party room that looks a
bit like a Brooklyn reception hall – is visible
behind a men’s room with badly stained urinals giving the lie to the assumed lavishness
of the place.
Through the evening, as the world of
King Lear collapses around him, the stage
slowly loses all color and even the pretence
of opulence. By intermission in this threehour plus production, the stage is littered
with junk. The tempest in Lear’s head is
matched by an onstage storm of impressive
dimensions accompanied by furious flashes
of lightening and claps of thunder.
The most impressive visual for me, however, was the collection of white-wrapped
bodies on the battlefield at Dover. It is a visage that will stick in the mind.
The production continues through July
19. Ticket pricing is a bit tricky for this
high-visibility production. The Shakespeare
Theatre Company’s price range is $35 to
just under $80, but there is a bit of small
print on their price chart reading “Prices
subject to change based on demand.” By the
time this production opened, the top price
for tickets had gone up to just under $85.
Sidney Harman Hall is located at
610 F St. NW. Call 202-547-1122 or
isit www.shakespearetheatre.org for more
information.
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Brad Hathaway is the editor/reviewer for
Potomac Stages, a website covering theater in
the greater Washington area (www.PotomacStages.com). He has written about theater
for Theatre.Com, Musical Stages Online, The
Connection Newspapers and such magazines as
American Theatre, Show Music, the Sondheim
Review and Live Design. He is a member of
the American Theatre Critics Association and
serves on its executive board. He can be reached
by e-mail at [email protected]. ★
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