Last performed in 2005
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Synopsis
After ruling Britain for many years, King Lear decides to abdicate and divide his kingdom among his three daughters, reserving the largest share for the daughter who loves him most. Unable to distinguish between eloquent flattery and sincere love, he banishes the honest Cordelia, his youngest daughter, and awards the realm to Goneril and Regan. Soon laying aside all pretense of affection, these two "gilded serpents" conspire to strip their father of every dignity and possession.
Once he is completely destitute, Lear succumbs to insanity. But in this state he comes to see himself as a "poor, bare, forked animal," no different from the Fool who accompanies him. No longer consumed by passionate pride and power, Lear perceives his failure to recognize the needs of his fellow human beings and sees the injustice of his harsh behavior toward others, especially Cordelia.
Like Lear, Gloucester is blind to the evil he has fathered. He loses his physical eyesight as a result of the scheming of his illegitimate son, Edmund. Later he is saved from despair and suicide by his legitimate son, Edgar, disguised as a poor madman named Tom O'Bedlam. Only as he nears death does Gloucester learn the truth about his two sons and gain insight into his own follies. Then he is fully reconciled with his loyal guide and protector, Edgar.
The death of Lear leaves Edgar, Albany, and Kent to rebuild the shattered kingdom.
—Dr. Janie Caves McCauley, Dramaturg
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