LITTLE wonder some theatergoers are experiencing “King Lear” fatigue: Productions of Shakespeare’s tragedy seem to be arriving with the regularity of trains at Grand Central.
Now, after previous efforts starring Christopher Plummer, Alvin Epstein and Andre De Shields, comes this version at the Public Theater, directed by James Lapine and clearly designed to showcase Kevin Kline’s performance in the title role.
This is not in itself a bad thing. Kline has demonstrated time and time again that he’s perhaps the finest American Shakespearean actor of his generation. And it’s understandable that he would want to tackle one of the Bard’s most daunting creations, having already triumphed as Hamlet, Henry V, Falstaff and others.
Yet while the actor’s performance is typically thoughtful, psychologically complex and beautifully spoken, what surrounds it is definitely a mixed bag. This modern-dress production is unevenly acted, not particularly imaginative in its staging, and lacks the passion necessary to justify its arrival as the third mounting of the play in the last year alone.
Lapine’s direction seems mostly bereft of inspiration, save for the haunting appearances of three little girls representing Lear’s daughters and the Tarantino-like bloodbath in the scene in which Gloucester is blinded. And the score composed by none other than Stephen Sondheim and Michael Starobin registers as little more than tinkling background music.
For all the virtues of Kline’s performance, it lacks the grand pathos necessary to make us empathize with the character’s tragic qualities. And when he strips down in the play’s final sections, what we mostly come away with is admiration for his well-toned body.
Larry Bryggman’s Gloucester again proves that this invaluable veteran can basically do no wrong, and Michael Cerveris, last season’s Tony-nominated Sweeney Todd, delivers an intense and frequently amusing turn as Kent. But Philip Goodwin barely registers as the Fool, Logan Marshall-Green hams it up unmercifully as Edmund, and the actresses playing Lear’s daughters well deserve banishment.
KING LEAR
Public Theater, 425 Lafayette St.; (212) 967-7555. Through March 25.