'King Lear': Darkness Before Death

From: The Washington Post | Date: September 8, 1999| Author: | Copyright information

In the new production of "King Lear" at the Shakespeare Theatre, Ted van Griethuysen plays the tragic king as if he'd never heard of the role, much less been told it was one of the great ones. The freshness and humility of his performance are a tribute to his discipline and integrity. Van Griethuysen is masterly and heart- rending, but quiet, almost self-effacing, one among many, as the king he is playing learns to be.

Director Michael Kahn has stridden right up to this unbearably anguished play and stared straight into its abyss. Critics have often said that "King Lear" is in fact undoable, ...

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