What's Meant By Lear

We began this year-long chronicle into all things Shakespearean in the big city at the end. Or, more accurately, where the ending began. King Lear is one of Shakespeare's late plays, and Young Jean Lee's "Lear" at the Soho Rep begins after the play ends, after Lear and Gloucester have been put out to pasture. Here, Lear's daughters and Gloucester's sons have the run of the castle. A mock Dada-esque romp consortium ensues. The five fight argue, make raunchy passes at each other, lament their boredom, leave the stage for extended periods of time (leaving the audience alone in the dark), wrestle with their guilt, and stage therapy interventions for one another as Sesame Street characters.