QUEEN LEAR
Spring 2008
Directed by Viv Brand and Tim Collins
Boston University Shakespeare Society presents Queen Lear, directed by Viv Brand and Tim Collins. The story follows the near-death King of England, as he decides upon the division of his kingdom amongst his three daughters. Lear loves his youngest daughter Cordelia most, but the kindhearted girl refuses to exaggerate her true feelings for her father. Lear's stupidity results in the banishment of both the only daughter who truly loves lim and his most loyal servant, Kent. As the play unfolds, Lear's physical and mental health begin to deteriorate as he is faced with the consequences of his actions. Like most of Shakespeare's classics, the result, of course, is tragedy. A modernization of Shakespeare's King Lear set in 1980's New York City, Lear is a drag queen who owns several loval bars and decides to give his property away to his daughters before he dies. In this version, Gloucester is a female character who is in male drag throughout the play. The result...well, see for yourself.
While BUSS's adaptation of Lear was admittedly controversial, it presents universal feelings of inadequacy, loss of identity, the fear of growing old, and the pressure to conform to societal norms. Queen Lear highlights the central themes of Shakespeare's original masterpiece and proves that people can sympathize with the King of England as easily as they can with a New York drag queen.
