tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616069914052039732.post8639373320238146456..comments2023-11-05T00:53:38.068-07:00Comments on Performance, Place, and Politics: PuSh 2013: TestamentPeter Dickinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06525339624428863930noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7616069914052039732.post-30800663461902660082013-01-26T08:53:11.722-08:002013-01-26T08:53:11.722-08:00I went to see it last night and agree heartily wit...I went to see it last night and agree heartily with your assessment. The three fathers (who have no acting training and one of whom had been derisive about his daughter's choice of acting as her profession) playing Lear collectively turns out to be a brilliant move. It's risky to see a _King Lear_ production these days because you never know in advance whether Goneril and Regan will be portrayed as monsters or as flawed human beings. _Testament_ not only humanizes them, but with the three father-daughter pairings gives additional insight into these characters. <br /><br />My favorite part was when the physicist Manfred Matzke analyzed what was wrong with Lear's proposal to his daughters through physics equations and graphs. We found out during the talkback that the original equations were huge and had to be scaled back significantly for the show. Manfred was my favorite character, and we found out when he was negotiating with his daughter that he habitually walks around the house naked and playing the trumpet. He and the other dads were accomplished, passionate, and sweet human beings who would nevertheless need great amounts of care if they moved in with their daughters. This added another dimension to _Lear_ in that they showed him to be impressive, lovable, and yet totally annoying (I love the _idea_ of Manfred playing the trumpet naked, but if he did so while I was grading papers it would drive me crazy). Given that Shakespeare's Lear makes his proposal to his daughters at the very beginning of the play, we never get a sense of what he was like as a father, but _Testament_ wonderfully adds this dimension. <br /><br />Here's hoping that She She Pop comes back every year to PuSh!diana shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00964584000009049205noreply@blogger.com