I love Edgar and Gloucester so much that I drew something else with them—a sequel to my last drawing.
I’m so mad that Edgar never revealed himself to Gloucester until the very end, in a scene that’s not even shown on stage, just recounted by Edgar… so I drew their final encounter.
Edgar’s account of his journey with Gloucester:
List a brief tale; And when ‘tis told, O, that my heart would burst! The bloody proclamation to escape, That follow’d me so near—O, our lives’ sweetness! That we the pain of death would hourly die Rather than die at once!—taught me to shift Into a madman’s rags; to assume a semblance That very dogs disdain’d: and in this habit Met I my father with his bleeding rings, Their precious stones new lost: became his guide, Led him, begg’d for him, saved him from despair; Never—O fault!—reveal’d myself unto him, Until some half-hour past, when I was arm’d: Not sure, though hoping, of this good success, I ask’d his blessing, and from first to last Told him my pilgrimage: but his flaw’d heart, Alack, too weak the conflict to support! 'Twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief, Burst smilingly.
Edgar, one of my favorite characters from King Lear!! in this picture, the left is how he looks in his disguise as a beggar, and the right is how he feels inside…
An incredible scene from King Lear, featuring Gloucester (left) and Edgar (right). I would give context, but it’s pretty complicated. The quote is: “Hadst thou been aught but gossamer, feathers, air, so many fathom down precipitating, thou'dst shiver’d like an egg. But thou dost breathe…”
And my poor fool is hang’d! No, no, no life! Why should a dog, a horse, a rat, have life, And thou no breath at all? Thou'lt come no more, Never, never, never, never, never! Pray you, undo this button: thank you, sir. Do you see this? Look on her, look, her lips, Look there, look there!
Hello, here is a ridiculously long review of this production! I just had a lot of feelings and thoughts!
Setting/Staging/Mood
I really loved the sound design for this one. It’s hard to describe, but the chords gave it a real presence and sense of motion. It was vaguely reminiscent of horror movie music in the way the chords lingered and didn’t blend in seamlessly, but I wouldn’t call it horror music exactly. The BELL tolling while Lear zips up his folder was such a good first image and bit of sound. And there were drinking songs, which I always love to see in a play. Put that Epic Theater technique straight in my mouth!
The circle in the middle that’s red in the first half and white in the second was a really creative detail, and the actors used that space effectively, especially with overlapping exits and entrances to make it feel that scenes happened in different locations while still being thematically connected.
The opulence and ceremony of the first scene gradually gives way to the more sparse and modern staging of act five — formal military dress to fatigues
I love how Lear raises his hand in prayer and command, compelling everyone else to follow suit to show their devotion and allegiance (and is there a difference between their king and their gods in this world?) even when they’re unsure about whether he’s right to be so cruel to Cordelia.
The recurring imagery of money changing hands really fits in well with the theme of love as currency that’s already in the text!
The single tree in the background of act five gave me Waiting For Godot vibes, which works SO WELL with the absurdism and nihilism of Lear.
