Sunday night I attended the Royal Shakespeare Company’s live broadcast of King Lear at the Michigan Theater. I sat down in my seat, to organ music being played at the front of the theater.
As the organ quieted and the lights dimmed, the opening shots on the screen were of past actors who had played the role of Lear in previous productions by this company. The list includes an impressive number of names; I was struck, as I occasionally am, of the enduring quality of Shakespeare’s work. King Lear still roars on the stage, Hamlet still speaks to ghosts, Romeo and Juliet still fall in love at first sight. What is it about his plays that makes it so we are still captivated, 400 years after his death?
That question became the theme of the evening. Before the show began, the broadcast featured an interview with the director, Gregory Doran, and a separate piece with the lead, Antony Sher who played Lear (fun fact: the two are married!). Both mentioned, in one way or another, the lasting relevance and urgency the tale of King Lear has today. In the wake of Brexit in the UK, the play’s exploration of breaking up of unions and loyalties are echoed in the mind of UK citizens. In the wake of the divisive and emotion ridden 2016 Election here in the States, the ideas of relating to others and the meaning of power seem particularly strong, as we make this next transition in our nation’s history. King Lear is a play about great compassion, great cruelty, and ultimately what it means to be human.
And that message which was so expertly executed by the Royal Shakespeare Company – in stunning costumes, an astoundingly talented cast, and wonderful staging – in production’s like theirs, King Lear’s message will continue to resonate for another 400 years.
