Review: Glenda Jackson battles through a brazenly busy 'King Lear' on Broadway
NEW YORK - For his Broadway production of "King Lear," built around the one and only Glenda Jackson, director Sam Gold has decided to make use of every luxurious resource at his disposal - sometimes simultaneously.
A more hectic palette would be hard to imagine for Shakespeare's greatest tragedy without the addition of a fire truck siren. Gold doesn't need to call the fire department. He has Philip Glass, who has composed original music performed by a string quartet tucked away in a corner of the gilt casino-resort palace that is Miriam Buether's set.
Shakespeare's language doesn't require cinematic underscoring. "King Lear" provides its own accompaniment, but this verbal music is often drowned out by the musicians sawing away in the background.
Gold directed a lavishly praised "Othello" at New York Theatre Workshop with David Oyelowo and Daniel Craig that was bracing to look at and frustrating to listen to. A "Hamlet" at the Public Theater
