Review: Lear presented by Woodson High School
Written by Naomi Bautista of Fairfax High School
While “nothing comes from nothing,” a lush and tragic world filled with love (or lack-thereof), grief, and betrayal emerged from the darkness in CG Woodson High School’s production of Lear.
Lear (traditionally King Lear), is one of William Shakespeare’s most prolific tragedies and often regarded as one his most supreme achievements. Lear, gender-swapped in Woodson’s production to be female, follows the story of an aging queen, the power struggles in her court, and a descent into chaos, madness, and death. Woodson delivered a performance rife with high emotion stemming from betrayal, ambition, and above all, family.
Charlotte Willmore, who played the titular Lear, inhabited the role of the aging monarch with grace. Commanding the stage, with a loping gait reminiscent of a stag and a resonant voice, Willmore was all at once magnetic and heart wrenching with her beautiful portrayal of Lear's descent into madness. With an ability to play insanity with genuine truth, she took the audience on an emotional journey that crested and fell like a wave crashing into a cliff.
Edmund (Aiden Brennan) and Edgar (Silas Blocker), delivered in their respective roles of the sly fox and naive sheep with a dynamic duality as sharp as a double-edged sword. With smarmy smirks and sardonic remarks, Brennan’s Edmund was a polarizing force to reckoned with; his clear diction and animated asides to the audience brought the schemer to life. The other edge of the same sword, Blocker delivered a nuanced performance as both the grounded, noble lord of his birth and the wild, wandering persona of “Poor Tom” that he dons after Edmund’s betrayal. While Willmore’s portrayal of Lear’s madness was honest and heartfelt, Blocker’s was a primal affair, leaning into an animalistic energy that shone with comedic undertones. In their portrayal of the strained brothers turned sworn enemies, the duo brought moments of comedic relief and intense drama, accentuated by the resounding clang of steel against steel in their final fight.
While the duo’s comedy was based in duality and nuance, the Fool (Julie Gurrola) employed a vocal variance as colorful as her Fool’s hat that astonished with its ability to make one laugh with a simple change of pitch or texture, a necessity for the performance of Shakespeare’s complicated language. Woodson’s ensemble balanced out the world of darkly colorful characters, attending the nobility with elegance and adding in a touch of bawdy humor that brought some much needed levity. The addition of music sequences was chillingly haunting, with soaring harmonies carried by the ensemble that perpetuated the mysterious and ritualistic air of the show.
Woodson’s world was brought to life by the majestic silhouette of an 8th-century castle constructed with realistic, hand-painted stones (Henry Green, Nico Loomis, Hero Rose). Perhaps the most impressive technical feat was the collaboration between the light, sound and set teams in order to cohesively execute the Act 1-ending thunderstorm sequence, which intertwined onstage rain, thunder, and strobing lights, allowing the audience to experience a downpour. In a Shakespearean piece, distinguishing characters can be difficult, but the intricately layered costumes (Amalia Manow, Katy Nguyen, Cricket Nichols) defined each character with a clear color scheme, unique silhouette and subtle changes that helped emphasize character arcs - particularly in Edgar’s switch from sheep-like cloth to a wolf’s pelt and the overtaking of Lear’s gown in flowers as she progressed further into insanity.
Emerging from the darkness, Woodson’s Lear reminded one how important it is to forgive and treat others with graciousness, for after all, "we all come to this great stage of fools.”