This is my first time to watch a Filipino adaptation of a Shakespearean Play and it was amazing. PETA’s Haring Lear was just great from performances to production design. The play was very visual despite the post-apocalyptic set design and black and ‘white’ costumes. It was performed by an all male cast which is not unusual as we all know that during Shakespeare’s time, theater was performed be men and that women are not allowed to act. This is a common knowledge but searching the net as to why it was like that shows responses ranging from women not being good enough then to others like since theater is becoming profitable during that era that the men were afraid that women might get rich. I’m no expert so I’ll leave it at that. Going back to the play, the all men performance was highlighted as well with all the actors shaven head except for the play’s title role Teroy Guzman. That sets him apart from the other actors accentuating his royalty.
Hearing the words of Shakespeare in tagalong is a delight. The translation of National artist Bienvenido Lumbera is impeccable and despite some of the words that are no longer familiar today, the translation did bring it closer to us and made it more understandable. I love the scene though where the actual English texts were used (when the first two daughters expressed their ‘love’ to their father).
Another scene that will stick to you was the tempest scene. A whole act set outside the castle while it’s raining and the way it was presented to the audience is just wonderful. I used to think that water and stage can’t go together but here, they brought the rain inside the theater. During the scene, two props-men holding a long tube with water shower nozzle at the end pointed at the actors soaking them with water made it all real. Splashes of water while the actors say their lines are just breathtaking.
After almost three hours, you wouldn’t notice that the play is over. The tragedy that is King Lear is a wonderful piece of theater.
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