 |
|
Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival continues its 19th season with the great tragedy King Lear. It plays Tuesdays through Sundays in the 520-seat open-ended Mainstage tent in Vanier Park from June 11 through September 26, 2008. James Fagan Tait returns to direct following his acclaimed staging of Timon of Athens in 2007. An aging King Lear decides to split his kingdom between his three daughters, basing each one's portion on her declaration of love for him. Goneril and Regan offer adulation and lies and earn control of Lear's kingdom; Cordelia, who is honest but unflattering, is disowned and bartered into a political marriage. Meanwhile, Gloucester's bastard son Edmund deceives him into rejecting his legitimate son Edgar. As this great tragedy of mistaken judgments unfolds, greed and lust for power result in cruelty, madness and death. The production is set in the not-too-distant future when international policy is as fragile as the mind of a monarch impeded with an illness that many elderly face today. Christopher Gaze plays King Lear, returning to a lead role at Bard after 10 years of cameo parts. Melissa Poll is Lear’s loving but rejected daughter Cordelia, while Lois Anderson and Tiffany Lyndall-Knight play his selfish and scheming elder daughters Goneril and Regan. Their husbands, the Duke of Albany and The Duke of Cornwall, are played by David Marr and Andrew Wheeler. Without a dowry, Cordelia is rejected by the Duke of Burgundy, Ryan Beil, and married to the noble King of France, Gaelan Beatty. Gerry Mackay is Lear’s old friend the Earl of Kent who, when banished for defending Cordelia, returns in disguise to serve the King. Patti Allan stands by Lear as his loyal Fool and Nurse. Scott Bellis brings insight as Goneril’s Steward, Oswald, and Lopa Sircar attends to Lear as his Doctor. In the sub-plot, Christopher Weddell plays the Earl of Gloucester who is deceived by his bastard son Edmund, Robert Maloney, and disinherits his legitimate son, Edgar, Todd Talbot. Inspired by the nearby Burrard Bridge, David Roberts’ looming set spans the spaces of King Lear’s country and his mind. Costume designer Mara Gottler referred to recent and past issues of Hello Magazine to create the iconic monarchic fashions as worn by British royalty and their court over the past two decades. Much of the text will be sung, and composer Joelysa Pankanea has borrowed from the ‘house music’ of the 1980s for the tone of her original music. She is accompanied by Mark Haney on bass. Gerald King’s lighting accentuates Lear’s tempestuous journey while Nicholas Harrison guides the conflicts. Stage Manager Stephen Courtenay is assisted by Kelly Barker (Assistant Stage Manager) and Sarah Pearson (Apprentice Stage Manager).
Performance details for King Lear are as follows:
Celebrating Red & White – wine event between shows on August 16. Tickets are $33 (evenings); $21 to $27.50 (previews/matinees). Order on-site, by phone at 604-739-0559, or on-line at . Season Sponsor is Starbucks; Production Sponsor for King Lear is Jaguar/Land Rover.
|
