Blessed Lear

Back in August, in the margins of a visit to South Kensington, noticed at reference 1, I bought one DVD about a king who dances and another about a king who went mad, to wit Brian Blessed doing Lear. Some months later we have got around to looking at it.

Not the DVD box snapped left and we certainly did not get a 64 page book, but then we did only pay £1 or so for it.

Running time of more than three hours, taken in our case in two doses, so one supposes that a fair proportion of the original text is there, although the odd bit that I checked was present but mangled. Notwithstanding that and what might follow this, I thought it was rather good.

We had more or less medieval castle and dress contrasted with chaps in white sheets chanting around a mock-up of Stonehenge - where I say mock-up on the grounds that the heritage people don't allow this sort of thing on the sacred turf, not through any fault of the mock-up. Sadly, the chanting did not lead to buxom maidens being done to death on the sacrificial stone without their sheets, at least not unless I had nodded off at the point.

From time to time, for example at reference 3, I have a pop-at at cross dressing Shakespeare. So in this production we had a slight lady of middle years, Brian Blessed's wife as it happens, doing the fool. And I though she was rather good at it. Not clear that a young lady or a large lady would have managed anything like as well.

Regan and Goneril good. Cordelia adequate. Edgar adequate. Edmund adequate minus, not projecting enough evil. But neither Kent nor Gloucester were convincing as big, bad, fighting earls of Lear's own generation. Kent was far too young and jolly while Gloucester seemed more like a shopkeeper, although he did seem to improve without his eyes.

I shall try to remember to take another look in the not too distant future. Also to pay another visit to the Red Cross shop at Clapham Junction.

PS 1: in the course of finding out that the Internet footprint of this film was rather modest, I came across the book at reference 2, which I was able to buy from Dunfermline for little more than the price of postage. A book which makes a not very complimentary reference to the present film. We will see what proportion of its 200 odd pages that I manage to get through.

PS 2: I also found out about the Guildford Shakespeare Company and Blessed's appearance for them in King Lear in 2014, which I had missed at the time, probably because I am not on a mailing list for them. Something to be put right now that we have renewed our acquaintance with Guildford.

Reference 1: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2019/08/kensington.html.

Reference 2: Screen Adaptations: Shakespeare's 'King Lear': A Close Study of the Relationship Between Text and Film Paperback - Yvonne Grigg - 2009.

Reference 3: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2019/11/last-post-for-tippett.html.

Reference 4: https://www.guildford-shakespeare-company.co.uk/.

Reference 5: https://psmv3.blogspot.com/2016/12/her-voice-was-ever-soft.html. What might be the last outing to Lear, back in 2016. In the days when trolleys were still in two figures.