BWW Reviews: Langella's KING LEAR a Grand and Commanding Treat

Though certainly one of this country's leading stage actors, Frank Langella has done surprising little Shakespeare in his career, making his grand and commanding performance in the title role of King Lear all that more of a treat for playgoers.

Opening the play as a robust and cocky ruler, fully confident in the unswerving loyalty of his underlings, the character's slow descent into madness is chronicled by Langella in a series of showcase scenes depicting Lear's ferocious rage at what he believes to be an act of betrayal by his youngest daughter, his confusion in discovering the actual betrayals of his two eldest daughters and finally the crumbling weakness of a defeated aged man who finally comes to realize the delusions of his life.

Director Angus Jackson's swift and accessible production, which has transferred to BAM from England's Chichester Festival Theatre, comes with no interpretive innovations but is simply a solid evening of theatrical storytelling, playing up Shakespeare's dark humor as characters comment on the diabolical political machinations.

Designer Robert Innes Hopkins' Middle Ages set blends in beautifully into the half-crumbled glory of the Harvey Theater, with the drama played on a mostly bare stony stage beneath distressed wooden walls.

While Langella's rich vocals and regal presence dominate the proceedings, the production is loaded with fine supporting turns. Catherine McCormack and Lauren O'Neil deliver varying degrees of elitist indifference as Goneril and Regan, the daughters who sing their father's praises, only to change tunes once they're granted their divisions of his kingdom. Other standouts include Denis Conway as Lear's loyal Gloucester and Harry Melling as the fool whose verbal jabs speak truths. The only weak spot is Isabella Laughland's Cordelia. As the youngest daughter, whose honest words are mistaken as treason, she's a bit too sweet and understated to make an impact among the aggressive surroundings.

While there are no eye-popping special effects, audience members may want to shield their eyes during a graphic scene where a character is brutally blinded. Aside from that, this King Lear should keep patrons riveted.

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