We saw Shakespeare’s King Lear performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford-upon-Avon at The Other Place. Unlike the other performances that we have seen, this was performed in Ukrainian without subtitles. This was not the first time I’ve watched something in a different language, but it was the first time I’ve had to do it without subtitles. The way the actors spoke and acted strongly reminded me of a German show I’ve watched. Because I don’t understand Ukrainian, I thought it might be difficult to understand the play, but I was able to tell who each character was and what was happening based on age, costumes, shoes, makeup, lighting, and other context clues. It also helped a lot that we had discussed it in class.
The biggest indicators between the characters were their age and gender but there were many other clues that helped me determine who each actor was. When the actors first came on stage they weren’t in their costumes and instead were wearing either gray, nude, or white under clothes that fit to their bodies, which I thought might just be some modern costume design choice. King Lear was an older man dressed in nude colors. Goneril and Regan were also dressed in nude colors. Cordelia was dressed in white to show her youth, innocence, and good nature. The jester had dark gray clothes and mild clown makeup.
Once the actors put their costumes on it became more obvious who each person was. King Lear had the largest crown. Goneril, the oldest daughter, had the second largest crown and was wearing the most decorated dress. Regan, the middle daughter, had the smallest crown and was wearing a less decorated dress. Cordelia, the youngest daughter, was wearing a plain white dress and didn’t really have a crown but instead was wearing more of a braided cloth wreath.
I was able to figure out the mood and where the scene was taking place with the help of the lighting on the gauze covered background and sounds. For example, when we see Goneril kicking her father out of the castle the gauze was lit with red. When King Lear and the jester were outside, the gauze was lit with a light blue, and you could hear bees buzzing and a dog barking. During the war scene there were war drums being played but I also heard a jaw harp. I wondered if this small detail was because it was Ukrainian.
The director cut a lot from the story, and I actually questioned multiple times if I remembered King Lear correctly or if I was mixing two different plays together. After the show I thought about how much was cut and I decided it was about half. I then realized this made sense because the show was only an hour and a half long, half the length of a regular show. In addition to scenes and plot lines, the director cut important characters. Of the usual ten important characters there were only five in this performance, King Lear, Cordelia, Regan, Goneril, and the jester. This also made the play easier to understand.
I think my favorite character was the jester because of the funny way she moved and spoke. All the actors did a really good job. I wasn’t expecting this because I thought our group leader said they weren’t necessarily actors. Overall, I really enjoyed this performance and did not really have any difficulty understanding what was going on, despite the language barrier.
Theatre in London U of A 