Soon Jae Lee's King Lear by Yeonwoo Theater Company at the LG Art Center (review)

Reviewed by: Soon Jae Lee's King Learby Yeonwoo Theater Company at the LG Art Center Yooj Chun Soon Jae Lee's King LearPresented by Yeonwoo Theater Company at the LG Art Center, Seoul. 1– 1806 2023. Translated by Hyun Woo Lee. Directed by Si Bun Kim. Artistic directing by Soon Jae Lee. Executive production by Wan Seok Yoon. Production by In Su Yoo. Set design by Tae Seop Lee. Lighting design by Gui Gyung Ko. Costume design by Si Jung Kim. Makeup design by Ji Young Paik. Prop design by Seok Hyun Hwang. Choreography by Yoo Deok Kim. Film design by Jae Ho Lee. Music directed by Tae Hoon Um. With Soon Jae Lee (Lear), Jong Ryul Choi (Gloucester), Yong Su Park (Kent), Ji Hyeok Gil (The Fool), Ju Yeon Ji (Cordelia), Min Joong Kwon (Goneril), Song Hee Suh (Regan), Hyun Kyun Kim (Edgar), Seon Hyuk Kim and Jae Min Park (Edmund), Dae Il Im (Albany), In Seop Yeom (Cornwall), and others. "Fourscore and upward, not an hour more nor less" (4.7.61) is how Lear describes his age, but the role has been rarely played by octogenarian actors. Indeed, Richard Burbage (1567–1619), the original King Lear, was estimated to be only around 40 when he appeared as Lear at Whitehall Palace in the winter of 1606. Veteran South Korean actor Soon Jae Lee, 88 years old, is double that age and may just be the oldest Lear in history. News headlines made much of the company's plans to apply for a Guinness World Record with Lee as the oldest actor to star in a production of Shakespeare. Age, however, proved to be just a number in this illuminating South Korean production. With a sparse set design (featuring only three long thrones as stage fixtures in the opening scene) and a line-by-line translated script from the First Folio, the production aimed for an "authentic" take on the early modern play. Many recent Korean productions of Shakespeare plays have focused on offering subversive readings or attempting an intercultural exchange. 2021's highly popular Juliet and Julietoffered a queer reinterpretation of the star-crossed lovers. A flurry of post-COVID Hamletproductions radically reworked the play as ways of coming to terms with modern Korean history. Given this context, Yeonwoo Theater Company's choice to stick to the basics was adventurous. It certainly paid off. Hyun Woo Lee's line-by-line translation was a work of art. While retaining the fast-paced drama and the poetic images of the Folio text, the translation managed also to reproduce the metrical rhythms of English in Korean. There were moments of clever puns gained in translation. For example, Lear's accusatory question "O Regan, wilt thou take her by the hand?" (2.4.191) when translated literally, acquired a new meaning, as the phrase doubles as an idiom for "taking one's side" [End Page 100]in Korean. Hence, when Regan takes Goneril's hand, it became a literal answer to Lear's idiomatic question, sending the audience off into ripples of laughter. The lyrical clarity of English peeking through the lively Korean translation was crucial to the success of the performance. This did not mean that the production, in its claim to have reproduced King Lear"as it was originally intended to be seen by Shakespeare" (Executive Producer Wan Seok Yoon's statement in the program, translation my own), neglected novel stagecraft. Fitting in well with the bare-bones aesthetic yet adding an innovative touch were sliding walls which doubled as projection screens. In lieu of a physical backdrop, the screens featured media art of forests or stone walls with flaming torches. Costumes were bright and tastefully designed, as most actors were clad in flowing robes. Lee, as Lear, made an impressive entrance, clad in an enormous fur coat and crowned with a glittering tiara. Sporting a full beard and thickly applied eyeliner, the effect was like that of a Game of Throneswarlord. Care was clearly given to ensure that the costumes alluded to a vague medieval European court without suggesting a specific nationality. Lear's visual transformations throughout the play were...