Shakespeare’s King Lear is widely considered one of the finest works in all of Western literature, but until I went to see it, all I knew about it was that it somehow involved a king and his daughters. Perhaps if I had known more than that I might have been intimidated by it, as King Lear features a complex plot with a large number of characters all engaged in a series of schemes against one another in subplots of various sizes to embroirder the rich, dense narrative. It would have been needless worry, however, as in the capable hands of director Paul Budraitis, Rough Play Productions‘ rendition of King Lear is completely accessible and a real pleasure to watch.

King Lear (Richard Clairmont) and Cordelia (Nicole Fierstein)

For those of you who may be as ignorant as I previously was, the basic story of King Lear revolves around the titular character, a once supremely powerful ruler who begins the play by abdicating from his throne to divide his authority and lands between his three daughters. Over the course of the play, King Lear will go from ferocious tyrant who deserves every bit of trouble (which is plenty) that he gets to a sad wretch who inspires pity even though he really did dig most of the hole in which he finds himself. Richard Clairmont does a fine job of capturing all of the moods of King Lear, a challenging role which requires the actor to portray a vast number of attitudes and emotions, often conflicting and sometimes changing within each minute.

In fact, the entire cast was excellent, always believeable and engaging. Their appealing performances were a major part of what made the play so exciting. I was most impressed with the acting of Gina Marie Russell as Regan and Daniel Brockley as Edmund. Each of these roles contains elements that could easily turn cartoonish in the hands of an unskilled performer but both Russell and Brockley keep their characters tragically and entirely human.

The very simple set design, centered around a single focus point, works well with the story and there are a myriad of small touches in the costuming and make up that emphasize the story without detracting from it. The simple but lush sound effects, music and lighting are all excellent and definitely add to the quality of the performance. This King Lear is a thrilling experience and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in a good story well acted.

King Lear at Theater Puget Sound
Thursday through Sunday at 8 pm/7 pm Sunday
Theater Puget Sound at Seattle Center
4th Floor, Center House (take north elevator to 4th floor)
Tickets: $12 advance, $15 at door