"TIMELESS", "placeless", with "post-apocalyptic elements". These are just a few words and phrases being used to describe Second Age Theatre Company's King Lear at Dublin's Tivoli Theatre.
Alan Stanford, one of the fore-most actor-directors in Irish theatre, is directing this production - his fourth in all - of King Lear.
"In a post-apocalyptic world," he says, "a feudal structure based on the natural law will emerge. If leaders abdicate responsibility in this environment, chaos will ensue. In such circumstances, the reality is that leaders cannot give up authority and responsibility, and this is the journey of self-discovery that the Lear character goes through in the play."
Stanford spent three months editing Shakespeare's script in order to condense it into a two-and-a-half-hour show. "Rehearsals have been going extremely well," he says. "We will put on a wonderful production of one of Shakespeare's three most important plays."
This production of the Shakespearean classic is aimed primarily at Leaving Cert students. After each matinee performance, for example, students will have an opportunity to discuss the play with the programme director Jim Culleton.
According to Eadaoin Glynn of Second Age, "the post-show discussion is a great place for students to pose questions about King Lear. We find that the challenging atmosphere of the questions and answers session helps students to develop their own rigorous interpretations of the play."
Teachers also receive a complimentary programme and eight pages of educational-resource notes written by Jim Culleton.
"These notes," Glynn explains, are what we've learned about The play from producing it for the stage. Some of the play's main themes, such as parents and children, Christianity and madness, are discussed in detail.
"This comprehensive guide also includes profiles of the play's characters, articles about its plot and notes on previous performances and interpretations of the play. In addition, we're running teacher workshops funded by the In-Career Development Unit of the Department of Education - where theatre games are played to examine the structure and characters of the play. Teachers find this helpful in developing new ways to teach Lear."
Watching a production of King Lear - particularly in the close confines of the Tivoli - "activates" the whole experience of the play, Glynn says. "With some characters being slain in sword fights, students can get very excited with the drama on stage," she adds.
Second Age Theatre Company was founded in 1989 to serve a young audience - often providing a first experience of theatre. It has produced many Shakespeare plays and 20th-century classics such as The Plough and the Stars and The Playboy of the Western World.
The company, which sets out to turn compulsory texts into compulsive theatre, has attracted more than 200,000 second-level students and teachers to its productions.
King Lear runs from today until November 23rd. During the midterm break (October 29th to November 2nd) prices for King Lear are £5. Tickets cost £8 on all other dates. A teacher is allowed in free with a group of 20 students.
