Unity's 'Lear'

"The notorious difficulty of producing King Lear does not excuse the unevenness of Unity's presentation.

The main characters—Lear, his daughters, Gloucester, his sons, were at least vocally adequate, but the sharp division between these and most of the lesser characters weakened the whole production.

Accents fiat and nasal assailed the ear regularly from the minor characters, suggesting a considerable lack of available good voices—surprisingly, for Unity's past productions have maintained a high standard, a feat often difficult for amateur companies.

The simplicity of staging and costuming was effective if by its drabness it was meant to highlight the fire of the play. But the persistent jingling of curtain rings which accompanied movement, especially of Edmund, was distracting; and the necessary fire was unhappily absent, except perhaps in Lear's concern for Poor Tom's daughters, and the last moving scene with Cordelia.

David Crewes played Lear with power and pathos—his gestures and body movements were particularly convincing. Gloucester, theatrically a character as important as Lear himself, seemed always a little beyond David Archer, who could not create the intensity necessary for "Out, vile jelly."

Thus the secondary plot was weakened, though Edgar and Edmund, played by Kenneth Blackburn and Victor Webb, were vigorous; and consequently Lear and Cordelia had too much of the play to carry alone. Jennifer Dakes played Cordelia with sympathy, but was perhaps not sufficiently gentle early in the play: her stern uprightness identified her too closely with Regan and Goneril.

That an amateur company should attempt Lear is praiseworthy, especially as it brightened the lives of Shakespeare-starved schoolchildren. But for a more serious audience. Lear's finer moments did not compensate for the structural imbalance and lack of vocal polish.—MG.