“eee _ Lorenzaccio * ee tratford’s artistic director, Jean Gascon, cele- brating the Fest- ival’s 20th seae son, has staged John Lewin’s Eng- a... ench play about an ii: Ssination plot and a repub- effort to overthrow the De Medici + : : 1837. yranny in Florence in as Program note draws a par- between political violence h “Nericg ‘ and i se Vali tity 9 questions “the nd above all the use- and : ) e. Particular political assas- ; ot (Surely there is a dif- ae between individual ter- _ “Mand an armed uprising!) % me pMusset's play is about “aM de Medici who is a € in the corrupt court of no Alessandro and plots i ee The oppressed city ang by arrogant Germans thar Omans. People are arbi- it Mo Y beaten, jailed or killed. " Brevity and cynicism | Lotens € government and church. SOmupt. himself has become che ied he persists in his = but he is not so much Sted in reform as in per- ma ‘Vengeance against the if lite despises and detests; he im, € faith in rebellions. any. Play debates the personal Teeth Itical’ alternatives and tells : them all. De Musset Rnerate: at an autocratic state *S public frustration, re- | &nde oa reckless violence, en- But We ® a worse autocracy. tegn9 are also told that even ‘| tion sha ble, organized opposi- jade, Mnot succeed, that its Ss desert it at the cru- Saale De Musset could A tom (v° learned very much TOVement Stirring democratic tay, His i" the Europe of his ate ti Play balances passion- Dhical otests against _ philoso- A Yang, boCulation and, despite Hil). © and director’s skills, . ALS, awe oy Sl t fat its a wordy and too long, "Satis, "cipal fault is its de- The Production is neverthe- Dolish absorbing one, offering Staging, tien eS by Gabriel Char- "Otdinans Gil Wechsler’s ex- far new lighting sys- Rts , °Signed the electrical j tet ey all three shows). -g heeive . some marvelously- Hh few 3 Scenes and more than R9 nk ti¢ moments, such as f ating €n celebrants at the | i Principles .2SSassination, the f e =a and gutless politi- tietCil of Tule Florence as the d i Mask Eight and wear iden- i el oy and especially the M Ditches © as the spotlight : Medigj ~O™ the inane new Pea ly uuppet ruler and sud- 4) tae’ cargiuates the scarlet- Power inal, the real politi- ty | ht he is 3 a consisten- be W.s. Year Tr. Pat Galloway layg the Duchess of Malfi) | ASsas ale role of Lorenzo, ) Person: €xploring his com- ees ality and portraying Si youth of exceptional fica yp nse, pouty and grace, of “Sag SS; almost-feminine ae Florence and in modern North: ®8s of revolutionary acts. sensuousness, cynical contempt for mankind, and an obsessive need for Alessandro’s death — all masked by the engaging manner and easy charm of a jaded playboy. As the man he seeks to mur- der, Kenneth Welsh exudes car- nal grossness. Apart from his reactionary rule as Duke of Florence, his main concern is to pursue the voluptuary life and achieve the unsubtle and cruel seduction of every woman he fancies. One can well appreciate Lorenzo’s disgust and fury. Other notable performances are by Powys Thomas as the in- decisive republican leader who deserts his cause; Roland Hew- gill as the austere cardinal who blackmails his adulterous sister- in-law; Elizabeth Shepherd as the unhappy countess manipu- lated by the cardinal; and Mary Savidge as Lorenzo’s _heart- broken mother. King Lear Stratford’s new production of Shakespeare’s monumental tra- gedy (the other time was 1964) is directed by David William and he has given us a vital and violent panorama of brutal con- flict between unscrupulous self- seekers and a handful of decent men and women. The production swirls in pageantry, banners, costumes and spectacle. Annena Stubbs design is strong and earthy. Louis Applebaum’s music and sound envelop and excite US. Rarely have we been attacked by so furious a storm of light- ning, thunder and gale as that which sweeps across the British moor and over the hapless Lear. We are startled by the kings explosive temper as he runs amuk and overturns two heavy banquet tables. We watch breath- less as two brothers battle each other to the death. We are touched by the tragic ends of Lear and Cordelia. We are hor- rified by the gory blinding of Gloucester, by the torture in- struments, the cleaver sunk into a tebe a servant’s back, the blood- stained bodies. But more than spectacle, sound and fury, the production probes the depths of character, particularly in the male roles, and guides us along the parallel, merging levels of the play—the personal, family relationships between a_ self-centred parent and his three daughters on the one hand and, on the other, the political relationships between a vain, roistering old monarch, two of his daughters, their hus- bands, and the ambitious son of a courtier. The king’s values have always been false; at home as in the world of politics. He rewards flattery, encourages hypocrisy and penalizes honesty. It takes the bitter experience of total personal tragedy finally to open his eyes. There is a deep wisdom in Shakespeare’s story, especial- ly when we are. cautioned not to accept events—as inevitable or as ordained by the stars, but ra- ther to take personal responsi- bility for our actions, to make moral choices and to embrace the humanist spirit which in- spires us with the courage to bear adversity, fight injustice and conquer defeat. An important area in the characterizations bothers me — Lorenzaccio—Pat Galloway as Lorenzo, Kenneth Welsh as Ales- sandro, directed by Jean Gascon. t PU ETE TEE OA TS ETS I 4 Hutt as King Lear, directed by David lam. Lear’s daughters. Pat Galloway (Goneril), Carol Shelley (Regan) and Elizabeth Shepherd (Cor- delia) create characters of great depth and color in the other Festival openers but, in the key roles of the sisters, it is well into the play’s middle before they register as strong and dis- tinct personalities. Perhaps it is because, when we first meet them, their costumes, headgear and hairdoes appear to be iden- tical. After a while (too long a while) we begin to distinguish speech mannerisms and physical differences, but these three women seem to be playing it cool, too intellectually, not as vibrant flesh-and-blood crea- tures but literary abstractions. The men are much more clearly defined: Mervyn Blake as the honest, loyal Earl of Kent; Powys Thomas as_ the eyeless Gloucester; William Needles as Goneril’s. dominated husband; Roland Hewgill as Regan’s sadistic mate; Kenneth Welsh as Gloucester’s son Edgar, feigning madness on the deso- late moors; Daniel Davis as Edgar’s evil brother and his own father’s betrayer; Edward Atien- za as the King’s Fool, a pathe- tic, shrewd, frightened and im- pudent conscience to the king; and, as Lear, the masterful por- trayal by William Hutt of the title role—a selfish, mean, un. reasonable, unjust, angry, tyran- nical, cruel and bankrupt old man who descends from throne to flight to exile to destitution to madness and to the recogni- tion of his awful guilt and, fin- ally, his awareness of his daugh- ter Cordelia’s love and the self- less loyalty of the friends he had scorned or wronged. As You Like It The Festival’s most joyous offering must surely be Shake- speare’s bitter-sweet comedy of human love and ‘mankind’s search for the happy society. It is 13 years since the play was last staged here. Now, under the inspired direction of Wil- liam Hutt, we enjoy ..it again as sonoaith Ye Louie SIRACIFIGTRIBUNE-ERIQAY, JUNE 23.,1972—PAGE 9 £¢ SUUL YAGIAE--SHUGAT DID AS 8 RDAT=ENI! a thing of ardent poetry, haunt- ing loveliness, entrancing magic, delightful humor and clarity of ' vision. Designed by Alan Barlow, it ' js visually warm and sensitive, like a pastoral painting. Harry Freedman’s music — solo songs, choruses and orchestra—give it the melodious sound of an opera. It has the look and the move- ment of a ballet. One remembers the wrestling match and Duke Frederick’s entourage, but espe- cially the scenes in the Forest of Arden — the exiles eating, their camaraderie and _ their songs, the joint celebration of four. weddings and the happy closing scene. The play’s various’ meanings are revealed to us—its concern with human dignity and human decency, the romantic concept of love and the more direct approach, the right of a woman to decide for herself as a person and not an object, the false so- cial relationships of the com- mercial city as opposed to rus- tic simplicity and, finally, the realization that the Forest of Arden was really an attempt to escape reality. The acting company is in its element here. Their voices are a joy to hear; their portrayals are a delight. Carol Shelley as Rosalind impersonating a young _ man is alive with humor and affection, flair and elan, and she -is magnificent. Nicholas Pennell is the love-lorn youth, Orlando, and the scene where he feeds his sick old friend (Eric Donkin) is full of tenderness. Pamela Brook is Rosalind’s devoted cousin; Edward Atienza is the -wildly-funny court jester who accompanies the girls in their fiight from the city;. Michael Liscinsky is the muscle-conscious wrestler; Mary Barton is chate- laine to the usurper duke; Mer- . vyn Blake, the duke’s banished brother, is the respected mentor of the exiles; Don Sutherland is the eloquent musical expression of the Arden denizens; Blaine Parker, a young shepherd, is in love with a shepherdess (Krysia Read); Elizabeth Shepherd is the luscious, bouncy goat-girl courted by Touchstone; and Roland Hewgill is the pessimis- tic social critic, more sad than cynical. The Twentieth Season After two decades the Fest- ival’s activities span 10 months at home and on tour with, it is hoped for next year, a tour of Europe, including the Soviet Union. New actors and back- stage craftsmen have joined the company and staff. This year, in the Festival Theatre, the Avon and the Third Stage, 10 produc- tions have been mounted. There will be musical stage works, concerts, a film festival and special events. Fringe attractions are the brightly-colored paintings and sculpture by Karel Appel at the Rothmans Art Gallery on Romeo Street and the Perth County Conspiracy’s after-hours music at the Black Swan on Market Street. —Martin Stone PHOTOS: ROBERT C. RAGSDALE LTD., TORONTO