Jeremy Helgeson as Cornwall, Heather MacLeod as Regan, and Mark Klassen as Gloucester.
Photos by Deborah Bayles.
This production was scheduled July 19-August 11, 2024.
For you know, nuncle,
The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long,
That it’s had it head bit off by it young,
So out went the candle, and we were left darkling.
—FOOL to LEAR, King Lear Act 1, scene 4
Fake news. Treacherous children angling for their parents’ assets. Political backstabbing.
The plot line for King Lear could have been pulled out of today’s headlines, and the Central Coast Shakespeare Festival’s production of the Bard’s tragedy, now playing outdoors at the Filipponi Ranch, opened to an enthusiastic crowd June 19.
Dysfunctional families haven’t changed much since 1606, the year that Shakespeare wrote what is arguably the greatest tragedy ever written. It’s a raw, visceral play that heaves with betrayal, cruelty, shifting allegiances, gaslighting offspring and in-laws, and the inevitable violent end of the truthteller/family scapegoat.
In 400 years, the themes of corruption and violence haven’t changed: we see inheritance battles, mercenary pandering to power, stubborn ignorance by a country’s leader, negotiable truths, and the punishment of the innocent.
As the Fool admonishes Lear, “Thou shouldst not have been old till thou hadst been wise.”
John Pillow is excellent as the King of Britain, abusive and explosive as he descends slowly from an aging, confident ruler dividing up his estate and making his final living arrangements, to a pitiful shadow of his former self, driven mad by his elder daughters’ betrayal.
Goneril and Regan, played by Janet Stipicevich and Heather MacLeod, are equally excellent in their roles as performative purveyors of filial piety. Kristie Siebert’s Cordelia is aglow as the forthright, innocent youngest daughter. If only Lear would heed the Fool’s clearsighted lines: “Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.” The Fool, enthusiastically played by Dorian Green, is ironically the play’s prophet and voice of reason.
Tyler Lopez, frighteningly evil, is a standout as Edmund, the smug, obnoxious, illegitimate son of the Earl of Gloucester, played by a stoic Mark Klassen. Throughout the play, Edmund spreads lies about his brother Edgar, the legitimate heir—played wonderfully and with great enthusiasm by Jude Walker—in order to convince his father to leave the title to him. Edmund then betrays Gloucester to Regan and her husband, Cornwall (Jeremy Helgeson), who, in a most gory scene, puts out Gloucester’s eyes and makes Edmund the Earl of Gloucester.
And you thought your family was bad!
Other notable cast members include combat expert Jason Sumabat as the Duke of Albany, Victoria Culman as Oswald the Steward, Mickey Danza as the King of France (and Cordelia’s husband), Roger Winer as the Duke of Burgundy, and Gryphon Strom as the Earl of Kent. All are to be lauded for their parts in this most complex, towering play.
Also of note are the superlative costumes created by CCSF veteran Roger Upton, and a set designed by the endlessly talented Al Schnupp, who has created the Swiss Army knife of royal thrones. It rotates and opens at various times to become a cupboard, the stocks for imprisonment, the entrance to a windswept hideaway in the midst of a torrential storm, a perch for the evil Edmund, and the seat of power for the disintegrating Lear.
What a pleasure it is sitting out in the open air in the shelter of a small canyon on a summer evening, drinking excellent Filipponi wine, watching a troupe of performers tell a timeless story that is still being played out today in its endless variations, as people have been doing for thousands of years.
Thanks to the actors, production team, and volunteers who work so hard and memorize so many lines. A big shout out to 2024 season sponsors New Times, City of San Luis Obispo, Andrew Campbell, Phil Wagner and Mary Blackler, and Dr. David Javitz and Cynthia Javitz.
Bring your folding chair, picnic dinner, warm clothing and blankets and check out some live Shakespeare.
:: Deborah Bayles & Stacey Hunt
Editor’s Note: CCSF offers two “pay-what-you-can” performances on Friday, July 26 and Friday, August 2, so that no one’s budget should keep them from seeing this production.