The Fourth Walsh

Babes with Blades presents KING LEAR.

King Lear wants to be idolized by his daughters. He goads them into a public competition to determine who loves him best. Wanting their father’s favor and a chunk of his kingdom, Goneril and Regan lay it on thick with speeches of devotion. In contrast, Cordelia shares her measured affection with blunt honesty. Her response wounds the King’s ego. He stokes a phantom slight into an inferno disowning Cordelia and embracing the posers. While the former daddy’s girl is banished, the other daughters conspire against their father for power.

Playwright William Shakespeare penned KING LEAR as a bloody, brutal tragedy. In mounting the tale, Director Alison Dornheggen puts her own spin on it. The inventive Dornheggen starts the show creatively illustrating the King’s favoritism. A domineering Lynne Baker (Lear) and reserved Jennifer Mohr (Cordelia) are mobbed by the paparazzi. The set-up leads into Baker insisting the three daughters vie for his affection. Baker is commanding in the title role plummeting from dignified ruler to traumatized victim. An unflinching Kathrynne Wolf (Kent) brings a steady presence to Baker’s estrangement from reality. Another standout performance is by Stephanie Mattos (Edgar) delivering an emotionally complex performance navigating betrayal, rejection, and forgiveness.

KING LEAR is an ideal vehicle for Babes to attack and wield their swords. And Fight Choreographer Jess Pennachio doesn’t disappoint in orchestrating multiple heart-pumping skirmishes. In particular, Mattos and Thomas Russell’s (Edmund) confrontation is a terrific balance of fury and impressive synchronization. There were also uncomfortably violent scenes led by a ruthlessly elegant Rachel Sleek-Bañuelos (Regan). Although Dornheggen gives Babes’ fans their duels, the true tone of this show is unclear. Is Dornheggen trying to find comedy in the tragedy?

The beauty of live theatre is experiencing it in community. At my performance, a particularly enthusiastic audience member laughed loudly and often at the sinister nature of the conspiracies. Sleek-Bañuelos, Russell, and Kim Boler (Goneril) deliver soliloquies laced with a delight at their own unapologetic vile. Aided by the overly engaged audience member, the wickedness takes on an almost playful quality. Whether or not that’s Dornheggen’s intention, the play’s dramatic intensity falters under laughter. For Shakes’ fans, it’s confusing in building to the body count crescendo. For those not familiar with the story on Thursday, the ending is not so much gruesomely shocking as embarrassingly surprising… what is there to laugh about?

Although Babes with Blades’ KING LEAR wasn’t the tragedy I anticipated, the interpretation and performances have me continuing to ponder this production.    

Running Time: Two hours and 30 minutes includes an intermission

At Theater Wit, 1229 W. Belmont

Written by William Shakespeare

Directed by Alison Dornheggen

Fight Choreography by Jess Pennachio

Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 7:30pm

Sundays at 3pm

Thru November 21

For more information or tickets

Production photos by Joe Mazza/brave lux

For more Chicago theatre information and reviews, please visit Theatre in Chicago