海角大神

When young Ellen McLaughlin was growing up in 1960s Washington, D.C., her parents would get dressed up 鈥� and get her dressed up, too 鈥� and take her to the iconic Arena Stage, which she calls 鈥渙ne of the first great regional theaters in America.鈥� She saw masterpieces past and present: 鈥淢acbeth,鈥� 鈥淒eath of a Salesman,鈥� 鈥淲ho鈥檚 Afraid of Virginia Woolf?鈥� 鈥撎齛nd 鈥淜ing Lear.鈥�

Though she now insists a 10-year-old has no business seeing a play with the madness and brutality of 鈥淜ing Lear,鈥� she came out of that theater dreaming of someday playing Lear鈥檚 daughter Cordelia.

鈥淎nd I did,鈥� she says. But that was much later, after she鈥檇 become a professional actor. After she鈥檇 soared high over Broadway portraying the original Angel in Tony Kushner鈥檚 Pulitzer Prize-winning play, 鈥淎ngels in America.鈥�

Despite her accomplished career onstage and as a playwright听鈥� much of her extensive oeuvre has been produced around the world听鈥� she was not prepared for the phone call from Tim听Orr, artistic director of the Colorado Shakespeare Festival in Boulder, asking her to take on the title role in 鈥淜ing Lear.鈥�

鈥淭im offered me the part, and he said to me afterwards, 鈥楧id you realize that you took a full minute to respond?鈥欌�� Ms. McLaughlin says in a听Zoom interview. She鈥檇 had no memory of that. Nor had she any inkling, as Mr. Orr told her later, that he was 鈥渟weating like a pig鈥� waiting, hoping she would agree to play Shakespeare鈥檚 most larger-than-life male character.

Still, she hesitated. 鈥淏efore I can say anything, I need to talk to the听director,鈥� she told him. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want to be in a production where we鈥檙e not in sync on听how to do this thing.鈥澨�

In sync, for Ms. McLaughlin, entailed multiple requirements: 鈥淲e鈥檙e not changing the pronouns. I鈥檓 not gonna do it in a dress. It鈥檚 not Queen Lear. It鈥檚 not about the terrible things that happen when women get power,鈥� she says. 鈥淚f we do it right, there will come a point at which the audience will stop thinking about the fact that I鈥檓 not a man, and they鈥檒l just watch an actor interpret a part.鈥澨�

Fortunately, director Carolyn Howarth had the same vision. She recalls brainstorming with Mr. Orr two years ago: 鈥淚t鈥檚 a hard role to cast,鈥� she says via phone. 鈥淪o we talked about a bunch of people: male, female, actors of different ages. When we started, I didn鈥檛 start out saying, 鈥業 want to cast a woman.鈥� But boy, did I hit the jackpot with Ellen.鈥�

鈥淢cLaughlin as King Lear fully embodies the character both vocally and physically, giving a fierce performance with non-stop conviction,鈥� writes OnStage Colorado听reviewer Eric Fitzgerald, calling her performance 鈥渁 magnificent interpretation of the ultimate Shakespearean tragic figure.鈥�

Ms. McLaughlin hopes casting a woman to play a male character won鈥檛 overshadow what she insists is Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥渂iggest鈥� play. 鈥淣othing else comes close. And that鈥檚 odd to say when you think about big plays like 鈥楾he Tempest,鈥欌�� she says. 鈥淓ven 鈥楶ericles.鈥� But I don鈥檛 think he takes on these huge metaphysical questions in any other play.鈥�

Lear is a 鈥渇eeling, feeling鈥� character, Ms. McLaughlin says, 鈥渕uch more so than many of Shakespeare鈥檚 female characters, and certainly more so than a character like Hamlet, who鈥檚 such an intellect.鈥�

Ms. McLaughlin鈥檚 Lear is preyed upon by his emotions, 鈥渁nd he鈥檚 a character that desperately wants to be loved and yet doesn鈥檛 understand love at the beginning of the play.鈥�

Shakespeare, she believes, is looking at 鈥渨hat is man when you strip the human of all attachments, all possessions, all identity. He loses his kingdom. He destroys his family. He loses his identity and he loses his mind.

鈥淎nd there鈥檚 this truth that he finds out,鈥� Ms. McLaughlin continues, 鈥渙nce he has lost everything 鈥� which is: What are we at essence? And what do we really want? What do we really need? What is it that he has been seeking and never understood 鈥� and that of course is love.

鈥淎nd he鈥檚 redeemed by love.鈥�

Yet, Ms. McLaughlin says, the character understood none of this until 鈥淟ear walks out into the storm and into homelessness and into countrylessness and into a lack of power and into annihilation. It鈥檚 the harsh education of a king. And learns too late what he could have done with the power that he had.鈥澨�

The woman bringing Colorado鈥檚 Lear to life 鈥渁bsolutely鈥� believes this play sizzles with contemporary relevance. 鈥淧eople in Shakespeare鈥檚 time knew something about the misery of the human condition and what it鈥檚 like at the bottom,鈥� she says.听

鈥淲e see it all around us,鈥� she continues, referring to modern issues such as homelessness. 鈥淲e don鈥檛 like to see it. So we don鈥檛 see it. But if we choose to actually pay attention to our fellow creatures and do something about it, a play like this 鈥� which is exquisite 鈥� opens the heart to that level of compassion, which is necessary to do something effective to address the suffering of the world.鈥�

Lear鈥檚 life is pure tragedy, yet the play concludes with a sliver of hope,听鈥渂ecause Edgar, who becomes king at the end of the play, learns in time the lesson that Lear learns too late 鈥� which is to pay attention to the people who are your responsibility,鈥� Ms. McLaughlin says. 鈥淚f you鈥檙e the king, these are the people whose lives are in your hands.鈥澨�

Despite the age-old themes of this play, the novelty of casting Ms. McLaughlin as a brute of a man听arrives at a time of increased听legislation banning drag performances and of parents听challenging libraries over books discussing gender identity or sexual orientation.

In Houston, in April, a school district canceled an elementary school鈥檚 field trip to see a stage version of Roald Dahl鈥檚 鈥淛ames and the Giant Peach鈥� after some parents complained that male and female actors would perform roles of different genders. Those parents insisted this made the production a drag show.

鈥淎s a nation, we鈥檙e experiencing extreme polarity around gender fluidity, and casting a woman in a male role gets lumped in with that,鈥� says Heidi Schmidt, who is on the faculty at the University of Colorado Boulder and is the dramaturge for the festival鈥檚听鈥淜ing Lear鈥� production.

Pointing out that it was illegal in Shakespeare鈥檚 England for women to act in the theater, she says, 鈥淭he original Juliet was male. The original Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia were all males. Peter Pan was played by a woman for generations, and nobody was bothered by that.鈥�

Ms. McLaughlin adds that it was 鈥渧ery cutting edge鈥� in the 1960s to cast African Americans in traditionally Caucasian roles. 鈥淭here was no Black King Lear. And now it鈥檚 just commonplace to have Black people playing those parts, and I think the same thing is gonna be happening with gender.鈥� (Indeed, British actor Glenda Jackson played the tempestuous monarch at London鈥檚 Old Vic in 2016 and reprised the role on Broadway in 2019.)听

Ms. McLaughlin thinks of the play as being about power rather than about masculinity.听鈥淭he play鈥檚 about patriarchy. The play鈥檚 about fathers and daughters, and his fundamental dilemmas and his fundamental revelations and joys have to do with the human tragedy and the human experience 鈥� and I feel I鈥檓 perfectly capable of听doing that,鈥� she says.听

Dr. Schmidt put it this way: 鈥淲e鈥檙e not saying anything about Ellen鈥檚 identity. We鈥檙e not saying anything about Lear鈥檚 identity. We鈥檙e just casting a great actor in a great role.鈥澨�

Ms. McLaughlin says she鈥檒l never have a part this marvelous again. 鈥淭here just isn鈥檛 a part this good, and I don鈥檛 want to stop playing him,鈥� she says. 鈥淚 would do this for the rest of my life. It鈥檚 a part that you鈥檒l never get right. It鈥檚 like trying to throw a no-hitter, you know? You鈥檙e never gonna do it. But the effort to do it is worthwhile, and you learn something from that effort.鈥�

What she learns anew each evening she plays Lear 鈥渋s that you never know anyone鈥檚 story until you try to deeply understand. There鈥檚 no dismissing any human being because we鈥檙e all carrying these sorrows that are ineffable, and that rule us to some extent,鈥� she says. 鈥淪o I feel like it expands me as a human being to attempt to understand such a great and complicated character.鈥�

鈥淜ing Lear鈥� runs through August 12 at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival鈥檚 Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre in Boulder.