A King Lear for the modern era
Deft and comedic touches lift dark tale of familial discord and pain in the face of patriarch’s dementia
What: Taking Leave Where: Langham Court Theatre When: To March 18 Rating: Three stars (out of five)
Taking Leave pivots on a rather clever idea. American playwright Nagle Jackson lifts the essential nub of King Lear’s plot and shifts it to modern times.
In this drama with comedic touches, Lear is transformed into Eliot, a 63-year-old retired university professor. A 21st-century diagnosis is attached to his Lear-like derangement: Alzheimer’s disease.
Like Shakespeare’s king, Eliot loves — or once loved — the status associated with having an elevated position in society. In a semi-comprehending way, Eliot wails and rages against what’s happening to him. Boldly played by Alf Small (who bravely doffs his clothes at one point), he comes off as a glorious wreck, the human equivalent of a once-great castle fallen into ruins.
There are other King Lear parallels. Eliot has three daughters. The youngest, Cordelia (Kayla Hamilton), shares some characteristics with her namesake. She’s an outcast, she cares nothing for material goods and she’s the one who loves her father the most.
The other daughters are Liz (Renee Yakemchuk), a successful actor, and Alma (Tammy Johnson), a school guidance counsellor. There is also Mrs. Fleming (Geli Bartlett), a caregiver whose no-nonsense observations provide a tart counterpoint to the daughters’ chest-beating over what to do with dear old daddy.
It’s no easy situation — as evidenced by the daughters’ frequent trips to Eliot’s liquor cabinet.
Jackson has thrown in an unorthodox element that works well. Eliot’s alter ego is “EliotOnce-Removed,” a ghostly character representing the professor’s pre-dementia self. Through EliotOnce-Removed, played by Randy Parker with balanced theatricality, we see the shadow of what Eliot once was — something that adds resonance and poignancy.
Aiming to avoid a completely depressing night at the theatre, Jackson has opted for Alan Ayckbourn-style humour. When Eliot swears at this daughters, lobbing the C-word and calling one “bitch-face,” one daughter wryly comments: “Yeah, he’s real whimsical.”
While the play has laudable moments, the script is good rather than great. Taking Leave falls short of the depth to which Jackson aspires. For example, it doesn’t dig as deeply in the dark heart of familial discord and pain as Tracy Letts’ August: Osage County (which received a stellar production from Langham Court recently).
What makes this production worth seeing is Small as Eliot. His performance on Thursday night was the best I’ve seen from him. And it’s no easy role — Eliot’s utterances are chopped up and strange, typically following no real logic. Small acts with verve and confidence; his diction and projection are admirable.
Bartlett was solid as Mrs. Fleming the housekeeper. She functions as Greek chorus, an outsider providing pragmatic commentary and serving as a counterbalance to the mysticism of Eliot-Once-Removed.
The actors playing the daughters had their moments, but the intended friction between them didn’t always ring true. That said, Hamilton, making her stage debut as Cordelia, does show promise.
Taking Leave, directed by Angela Henry, boasts a simple yet effective set by Sean Thompson. The key feature is walls desconstructed to reveal the framing — a striking visual parallel to Eliot’s damaged mind.