 | King Lear |  |
"How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is
To have a thankless child!" Act I, scene iv
Written: 1605
Theatre Project Si ; November 13, 2008 Tokyo, Japan
Director : Masaru Sekine ; Starring :
Reviewed on : 2008-11-18 17:39:14 ; Reviewed by : Yumi Moriguchi
| The Tragedy of King Lear – or ‘The Tragedy of Edmund’, as I shall name it.
This is the second production by Waseda University professor Masaru Sekine’s Theatre Project Si, following their premiere production of Hamlet in June 2008. Sekine, once again wearing the hat as director of King Lear, takes us further to witness the merge of East and West. Actors involved members from the world of Kyogen – Japanese traditional theatre arts; Tenor and Soprano from the world of Opera; a musician playing a Taiko (Japanese drum); and another drummer ready with an African drum called Djembe.
Similar to what I witnessed in their production of Hamlet, Sekine continues to attempt a radical adaptation from the original Shakespeare, as if to let the Bard’s drama dissolve smoothly into the minds of the Japanese audience. The ‘scraping off’ from the original story, such as cutting redundant scenes, reorganizing scenes or sometimes adding new ones, were still present in King Lear. The play was reduced to two hours without interval, due to such techniques as describing the warfare only by the sounds of the drum for a minute or two. At the same time, whether intended or not, this simplification of the drama has produced an unexpected side-effect – turning a special spotlight on Edmund (alias Tadanobu).
What is most interesting about this production is how the absolute humanity of Edmund is depicted. Many productions and adaptations of King Lear tend to focus on the story of Lear, Gloucester and their respective families. The tragedies of the two families contribute to creating the dramatic atmosphere, whereas Edmund, even though his character resembles that of Aaron or Iago (to name a few), is not quite universally ‘qualified’ to enter his name along with the famous villains from the works of Shakespeare. However, in Sekine’s production, Edmund (wearing a Kimono with patterns of spider webs) was the very character who has wound up the simplified King Lear and the one who seemed indeed very human. Other characters, including Lear (Tono-Lord) and Gloucester (Echizen), did not have as much depth as Edmund. This is most probably not a problem with their acting, but due to the overly flattening of their rich personalities during the simplification of the play.
In the original King Lear, there is a joint appearance of three types of madness – that of Lear, the Fool, and Edgar. However, the strong impact of the wild acting of Edmund in Sekine’s production has certainly exceeded the presence of other major characters. To run through the story smoothly and easily, Lear, the Fool and Edgar were not as much ‘mad’ as I thought they would be. Interestingly, it was Edmund who outstripped them all, by bringing his Iago-like revengeful and cunning nature to the fore. In some ways, Edmund was the most ‘mad’ among all of the characters in Sekine’s play.
Other points of interest include the way the direction worked to let Cordelia (Ayuhime) be in an absolutely vulnerable position. Cordelia was played by the only actress on the team; Goneril and Regan were played by male cast members. Hence, Cordelia seemed somewhat weak and powerless when standing side by side with her two sisters. The scene where the two sisters pointed fingers at Cordelia gave the impression of something similar to that of Charon, Demetrius and Lavinia in Titus Andronicus.
All in all, Sekine’s simplification left us no mysteries after the two hour production. The audience knew which characters won and lost, or which ones lived and died. In the original text, the Fool mysteriously disappears in the final phase, leaving us with the question of whether it is he or Cordelia who is hanged – “And my poor fool is hang’d” (Act 5 Scene 3). There is nothing to worry about in Sekine’s production; the Fool is on stage until the very last minute when the curtain falls. After the performance, the audience can sleep without questions in their minds. Sekine’s novel production of King Lear has yet again left footprints in the history of Shakespearean performance.
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Sir John Gilbert, R.A.,
Lear and the Fool
Reviews
|  | Royal Shakespeare Company
March 4, 2010 |  | Everyman Theatre
July 22, 2009 |  | Theatre Project Si
November 13, 2008 |  | A Young Vic/Headlong Theatre/Liverpool Everyman and Playhouse co-production
November 5, 2008 | | Shakespeare’s Globe
June 1, 2008 |  | Royal Shakespeare Company
December 5, 2007 |  | Stratford Festival of Canada
August 4, 2007 |  | Goodman Theatre
September 19, 2006 |  | Marin Shakespeare Company
July 8, 2006 |  | Shotgun Players
May 13, 2006 |  | Actors' Shakespeare Project
October 1, 2005 |  | Piven Theatre Workshop
2001 |  | Chicago Shakespeare Theatre
2001 |  | AUN Company
2000 |  | Ninagawa Company/RSC
1999 |
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