King Lear, Shakespeare Theatre

King Lear, Shakespeare Theatre

King Lear at the Shakespeare Theatre. The play was well done. Of course, it was what we all know, a tragedy -- not just any tragedy, but a Shakespeare tragedy. That means that everyone was killed in the end. It was gruesome. It seems that in Shakespeare's time, with only men in attendance at the shows, it must have been popular to have a lot of blood and killing in the shows, and that is what Shakespeare gave his audiences in his tragedies.

All Shakespeare plays have at least one play within the play, and this one was no exception. The "inset" play was also a tragedy, making the overall play a double tragedy. In both, the protagonist makes the same mistake, which leads to his downfall. In both, the protagonist disowns a child for perceived lack of love, but the perception was mistaken, and the other children, who feign love of their fathers, are really the ones who are taking advantage of their fathers falsely. The moral of the play was not to throw away the love of your children because if you do, you may be sorry later. Of course, Shakespeare plays, especially the tragedies, are overdone in order to please the audience, and I suppose that was also necessary to make the points emphatically in those days. The play was really well done, and as always, I enjoyed going.