The set design by Nate Krebs, for King Lear established the multiple platforms as checkerboards as if in a game of chess. Directed by Beau Mahurin, the show is definitely dark and brooding. In the first act King Lear (J. Michael Werner) the aging king of Britain, decides to step down
from the throne and divide his kingdom evenly among his three
daughters. First, however, he puts his daughters through a test, asking
each to tell him how much she loves him. Goneril (Samantha Behr) and Regan (Katy Polimeno) , Lear’s older daughters, give their father flattering answers.asks his daughters to praise him and Cordelia (Monica Mulder) refuses, simply acknowledging that she loves him as a daughter should., He is furious and essentially disowns her. She is cast to the ground. The other two sisters play his game, but they plot to overthrow his in secret.
Cordelia returns disguised as a jester and helps her father to overcome the endless espionage. There is some serious sword play and sitting in the front row, I at times got nervous that I might be a little too close to the action. Edmund (Barry Wright) sat at the chess board as he plotted his next move against the king. Selfish princesses were pawns in the battle for power. Some of the Shakespearean dialect was lost on me since I was concentrating of the sketch.
This is a truly tragic play. The evil sisters kill each other since they are both in love with Edmund. Cordelia returns with an army to battle her sisters army but she is defeated. The death of all three princesses leaves Lear distraught and overcome. Lear appears, carrying the body of Cordelia in his arms. Mad with grief,
he bends over Cordelia’s body, looking for a sign of life. The strain
overcomes Lear and he falls dead on top of his daughter.
A year ago 49 people were murdered at Pulse Nightclub here in Orlando, so the entire city had had to come to terms with loss and grief. This made the end of this play most timely and difficult to watch. The human struggle never changes and tragedy is the same in the past as it is in the present. senseless violence greed and corruption will always remain but if the cast of King Lear all had assault riffle instead of swards, s then the carnage would have been much worse.