The Tale of Lear (Suzuki, 1988)

The Tale of Lear

The Tale of Lear, directed by Tadashi Suzuki whose experimental and provocative Trojan Women received critical acclaim at the 1986 Chicago International Theatre Festival

All-male cast, Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., performed in English and Japanese

King Lear (30-year-old Tom Hewitt)
Cordelia (Charles Tuthill, wearing a beard)

Co-produced with StageWest of Springfield, Mass., the Milwaukee Repertory Theater and the Berkeley Repertory Theater

Each company contributed to the cast and production and sent actors to Suzuki`s theatrical center at Toga, Japan, for study and rehearsal.

Suzuki said that “What I am striving to do is to restore the wholeness of the human body in the theatrical context not simply by going back to such traditional theatrical forms as Noh and Kabuki, but by employing their unique virtues, to create something transcending current practice in the modern theater.”

Included here is a video highlight of actors practicing stomping using the Suzuki method.