ear has no heart

Martin Millerchip
THEATRE REVIEW

Kin Lear by William
Shakespeare. A Bard On The
. Beach production directed by
Alan Scarfe. In repertory with The
Merry Wives Of Windsor until
Sept, 24 at Vanier Park. Box
office: 739-0559.

The oldest hath borne most: we
that are young
Shall never see so much, nor live
so long.
$ | listened to the final
couplet of King Lear
(spoken by Edgar of the
dead king himself} the words
seemed to settle over Douglas
Campbell like a shroud.

{ felt that I had been privy toa
- piece of theatre history, a perfor-
-mance by the last of the old eng-
lish actor/managers — the barn-
stormers of the provincial circuit
.-who produced, directed and
’ starred in their own adaptations of
._ the classics.” : oe
. But, ! must heed the penulti-
mate couplet of the play too:
The weight of this sad time we
must obey, .
_:' Speak what we feel, not what we
““ ought to say.
So, painfully, | must admit that

>. Campbells performance also sep-

"arated me from this production,
|. femoving me from emotional con-
"> tact with one of the greatest plays
~~ ~ jn the English language and leav-
_. “ing me a true spectator for most of
a very long 3% hours." - ;
“.° From-his inauguras season at
the Stratford Festival over 40 years
.. ago Campbell has spanned .
- Canadian theatre like a colossus.
His recent association with
... Bard On The Beach has lent
national credibility to a summer-
stock’season aimed at the tourist
market and has, to some extent,
forced artistic director Christopher
Gaze to upgrade the talent of the

. company. ;
| had looked forward to the

~_ opportunity to see Campbell

‘reprise a role for which, at almost

73, tie was the perfect age.

~ But perhaps age is the simple

explanation of a performance that

was inaudible for many key

speeches.

Articulation requires breath
contro! which, all too often, was
missing, leaving me to watch the
actor’s technique instead of heed-
ing the character's dilemma.

It should be noted, however,
that director Alan Scarfe’s
approach to King Lear does not
help any member of the cast
explain his or her character's jour-
ney in terms of cosmic signifi-
cance, least of all Lear's.

With Scarfe, action is all and
the result is a clean, clear and
amazingly accessible story.

Unfortunately, this production
offers. no point of view. There are
lessons to be learned in misery
and suffering, madness and blind-
ness, but who learns what, anc
when, is never clear.

i must acknowledge that the
company’s acting, as a whole, is
strong with several standout per-
formances. Hilary Strang’s quirky
Regan is pure evil. Scarte’s pro-
duction reminded me in many
__ ways of an Elizabethan revenge

tragedy and Strang’s Regan is a
white clevil of sadism.

Ron Halder’s Edmund is a
purely, perfect bastard while Scott
Bellis’ Oswald is merely a malevo-
lently poisonous spider with no
steel in his web.

The forces of truth are equally
well served by the clarity of
Denyse Wilson’s Cordelia and
parts of Ken Kramer's Kent,
Christopher Werlclell’s Gloucester
and Roderick Glanville’s Edgar.

Glanville reaches the limits of
his experience in the scenes of
Edgar's feigned madness, but oth-
erwise | always felt what Edgar
felt, which.is the ultimate compli-
ment I can pay.

Kramer and Weddell provide
honest strength and moral (if

blinkered) purpose for much of the
play but neither are well served by
Scarfe when it comes to sorrow.

Torquil Campbell’s Fool might
well have been compelling if only
the scenes with his father had
been completely audible.
Certainly the younger Campbell’s
facility with some of the most diffi-
cult prose in Shakespeare made
me wonder why it was his lines
that had been cut,

The image of Lear’s Fool
wrapped in his master’s royal
cloak but trailing it in the mud as
they stumble into the storm, shorn
of everything they were, was
undoubtedly the best moment of
the production.

Unfortunately, it will stay with
me for a different reason.

' With Salvador's, all you have to do
is add the ice and garnish for the
perfect Margarita every time.
Enjoy Salvador’s Original (lime)

-or Strawberry—now available
at your Government Liquor Store.

It's so easy...so delicious!

ca

Wednesday, August 24, 1994 - North Shore News - 21
BeBe he “tie BeBe sie sie he sie ie
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