Unlike Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet - the two Tragedies concerned with youth in our Taste of Shakespeare series - King Lear is a Tragedy of old age. More specifically it is about the time in a father's life when his children, for good or ill, by gift or through force, acquire power over him and he has no choice but to submit or leave.

When Lear's two daughters band together to strip their father of all respect and dignity, the old man, taken to the ends of endurance, takes to the open road on a stormy night accompanied only by his trusty servant and his faithful Fool. Losing his home, his way and his wits, Lear begins to look squarely at the misery of the outcast poor and the cruel hypocrisy of those with power in the world. In his attempt to “feel what wretches feel,” he bares his chest to the wind and rain, and in his madness he crowns himself with a circlet of flowers. The pain in the play is almost too much for an audience to bear, but Shakespeare's magnificent poetry and the kindness of the few good characters makes the story endurable. King Lear will never go out of date because the exchange of power between parent and child is repeated in every generation and every home. And if this transfer of power takes place without empathy and love, the tragedy of Lear will be repeated as well. Although some lucky few in the audience will be unable to see the relevance of this savage play to their own protected lives, with the passage of time they inevitably will.