It’s been a while, but South Stream Productions is back. After a delightful and exhilarating Twelfth Night experience in the first weeks of 2024, now comes the darkly fraught and violent encounter of King Lear, and what a mesmerizing journey it proves to be.
Producer and Director Brook North has assembled an incredibly talented and familiar group of actors. As expected, those performances are marvelously impressive.
Julie Oliver tackles the title role with admirable relish. Her Lear is initially jaunty with anticipation of dividing his kingdom amongst his three daughters, figuring to relinquish his power while still enjoying the trappings of his position. But things go sideways quickly. He demands that his daughters declare their love for him, preferably excessively effusive. Two of the daughters, Goneril and Regan, respond accordingly, gush their affections, and even throw shade at one another.
However, the youngest, Cordelia, and Lear’s declared favorite, will have none of his nonsense and refuses to participate in this charade. She will not flatter her father, causing disappointment and sending her father into a rage that will doom all the members of this family and those of another.
North’s bold decision to cast Chloe Oliver, daughter of Julie Oliver, in the dual roles of Cordelia and the Fool is pure genius. As Lear admonishes his daughter, we also witness a mother berating her real-life child, adding to the chilling dynamics of the scene. Chloe Oliver’s Cordelia, draped in white like a temple’s vestal virgin ready for sacrifice, restrains herself, head held high, her body almost vibrating as she endures his painful, nearly violent barrage.
When Chloe Oliver emerges again as Lear’s Fool, in white pants and top, a red harlequin hat and collar, and comic face paint, it suggests that Lear is not free of his daughter – and serves as a reminder of Cordelia for both her father and the audience. Sometimes, the two are back-to-back to emphasize a closeness, even as the Fool mocks Lear’s actions and reminds him that he should have grown wise before growing old.
King Lear is all about family, particularly the problematic relationships between parents (in this case, fathers) and their progeny and the antagonistic interactions amongst siblings. Indeed, this play adds a whole new level to sibling rivalry!
Goneril (Maggie Lea) and Regan (Barrett) initially seem to have a reason to unite against their father as he becomes more unstable. Still, that union quickly disintegrates as Regan reveals her lust for both power and violence. Barrett’s Regan is deliciously devious, her eyes and smile glinting as she schemes and plots. Her savoring of the violence is genuinely terrifying.
But Regan isn’t the only one wreaking havoc; Edmund, the bastard son of the Earl of Gloucester, has also decided to exact revenge on both his father and his brother, Edgar. Elizabeth Johnson delivers the right amount of dastardliness as Edmund, and John Honeycutt delivers a strong and heartbreaking performance as Gloucester, who is so sorely duped by Edmund.
But it is Benjamin Tarlton as Edgar, becoming ‘Poor Tom’ when forced to retreat because of the machinations of Edmund, who steals scenes in the second half. Stripped down to a loincloth and a tattered blanket, Tarlton’s strange antics are creepily humorous as he prances around before again becoming the sympathetic son who rescues his father.
A father demanding fidelity while pitting his children against each other and himself. Another father is deluded by the actions of one son against the other. Gloucester becomes disillusioned and desperate with sorrow while Lear goes mad with rage, subjecting himself to the elements and ranting against them. Oliver ramps up mightily in the storm scene, even if the sound elements (thunder) were not quite as successful.
As expected from a Shakespeare tragedy, bodies pile up by the end. King Lear is bloody and leaves you feeling spent at the end. But this production makes it oh so worthwhile.
King Lear runs through May 18 in Raleigh. For more information, click here.
