David Fox adds distinct ‘Upper Canada’ flavour to King Lear
Consummate crusty Canadian actor stars in production of Shakespeare’s play set in 1837
When director Rod Carley first suggested to David Fox that he play King Lear, the actor couldn’t have been less impressed.
“He suggested I do it as a legacy project,” growls Fox. “A legacy project? I’m not dead.”
At 74, Fox is still in top condition and that’s why Carley thought of him.
“He’s one of our greatest actors, and he still has all his health and his faculties, so why not give him one of the greatest roles in all literature?”
And that’s why, only through Dec. 6, you can see Fox play Shakespeare’s storm-tossed monarch at Theatre Passe Muraille in the Watershed Shakespeare Festival Collective production of what Carley refers to as his “Upper Canada Lear.”
“I’ve got two great passions, Shakespeare and the history of our country,” says the award-winning educator and director, “and this was a chance for me to unite them.”
Carley feels that Upper Canada in the winter of 1837 is the perfect setting for the play. “The rigid class structure of the Family Compact, the roughness of the times, the fierceness of people’s ambitions: they all line up with Shakespeare’s text.”
They also fit Fox’s persona as well. The consummate crusty Canadian, he’s been acting for decades in historic scripts such as The Farm Show, 1837: The Farmer’s Revolt, Quiet in the Land and The Drawer Boy, to name just a few.
“It’s a remarkable adventure for me,” concedes Fox, before admitting, “I only think I’ve seen the play once, a long, long time ago in Stratford. But once I sat down and read it, I admired the perfection of the play immediately.
“The genius of Shakespeare is there on every page, in the particularities of every character, even though they’re timeless. You know, whenever I go to my local LCBO, there’s this guy waiting for me outside the door saying ‘Hey buddy, you give me some money!’ I see the madness of Lear in his eyes.”
Fox also feels Carley setting the play in 1837 Ontario suits it perfectly.
“It was a time in this country’s history when everything was up for grabs. That creates a kind of energy and imagery that matches the play and helps to drive it. I love the way it begins, the sway and swagger of the man as he sets up the new divided kingdom. A great general, a great womanizer, but he owns the world.”
Carley laughs on being told Fox’s description. “Oh yes, David loves that part of the character, the kind of Regency gentleman thing, the aging rogue. He’s brilliant at it.”
But the other, darker parts of the character touch Fox in deeper places.
“My mother had dementia near the end of her life,” he says. “I try to bring the experience of seeing her go through that. The mistakes she would make and then try to cover up. The terror she would have when she was in the nursing home and we’d take her out to dinner, and then we’d bring her back and she couldn’t understand why we were leaving her there.
“I think of that when Lear is talking to his henchmen, trying to hide things. You have to find a way of bringing the unnamed terror onto the stage.”
The show began last year in North Bay, where both Carley and Fox have strong roots. They rehearsed it during the winter, ran it in April and then set about raising the money to bring it down to Toronto.
“This is not a Lear with gimmicks,” insists Carley. “We’ve just tried to achieve clear storytelling.
“And David’s Lear is unlike any one I have ever seen in my life.” King Lear runs at Theatre Passe Muraille, 16 Ryerson Ave., through Dec. 6. Call 416-504-7529 or go to passemuraille.ca for tickets.