1 Introduction: Berthold and Magda Go to the Theater

We re-encounter Berthold and Magda at the local theater in a provincial town

they are visiting. The billboard outside the theater advertises a performance

of King Lear , and it is this that has lured them inside. When the curtain rises

in the otherwise empty auditorium, they immediately doubt the wisdom of

their decision. The stage is adorned with scenery reminiscent of the illustra-

tions in a Grimm’s fairy tale, and it quickly becomes apparent that there are

only a small number of people in the cast. One of them, dressed in a manner

resembling Gandalf in the film version of The Lord of the Rings , is presum-

ably supposed to be Lear. The solitary actress in the cast, who is attired like

a hobbit, is identifiable as Cordelia by her relationship to the Gandalf-figure,

who banishes her from his presence after she refuses to satisfy his desire that

she profess her affection for him. It is conveyed by report that his strange

behavior is the result of the fact that he has given away his possessions to his

other daughters (not explicitly represented in the performance) who, having

agreed to profess their love for him, have since tormented him terribly. The

Gandalf-like figure is also tormented, but for his own instruction, by another

hobbit-like figure clearly intended to be Lear’s Fool. Much is made of a scene

that seems to take place in a thunderstorm, in which the Gandalf-like figure

loudly intones barely recognizable lines from Shakespeare’s play – although

this is arguably an improvement over the mumbled manner in which the

actors generally deliver their lines.

6

The Scope of the Classical

Paradigm: Theater, Dance,

and Literature

Philosophy of the Performing Arts , First Edition. David Davies.
© 2011 David Davies. Published 2011 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd.