Word: lear
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...have, of course, no use for the idiotic happy ending, with Lear restored to the throne and Cordelia blissfully married, that for ages afflicted productions of the play until Macready restored Shakespeare's original text exactly a century and a quarter...
...rest of the company on the whole displays an admirable high quality. Philip Bosco conveys the fervor and noble loyalty of Kent, who is to Lear what Horatio is to Hamlet. In the earlier parts of the play, the Gloucester of Patrick Hines is somewhat perfunctory; but after being blinded, his thereby improved "sight" spurs him to the most eloquent work of his career. His prayer and his final dialogue with Lear are extremely moving. (But why did the director place his "suicide" leap on the flat part of the stage when a six-inch "cliff of Dover" was available...
...Lear's three daughters, Carrie Nye's Regan has strength and all the requisite viciousness. The other two are the chief disappointments in the cast. Rosemary Murphy looks hateful enough for the arch-villainous Goneril, but she lacks the requisite venom in her diction. Cordelia does not have many lines, but is a fully drawn character. As Anne Draper plays her, she emerges rather neutral. The role is pivotal for Cordelia represents the future ideal of love (as Edmund represents the primitive past and Lear the civilized present). This Cordelia does not emanate sufficient love...
Nevertheless, this Festival production is impressive and purgative. And Carnovsky's king is classical tragic acting of rare stature; we are not likely to see a better Lear in our times...
...free picnic facilities are available on the grounds. All performances begin punctually; and, a half-hour before, there is an exhibition of expert juggling on the lawn. Forthcoming issues will carry reviews of "Henry V" and "The Comedy of Errors," which will be played in repertory with "King Lear" through Sept...