Afomia Hailemeskel played the role of Cordelia, the daughter banished by King Lear. Hailemeskel brilliantly made Cordelia stoic and sarcastic. (Photo Courtesy of Diana Antohe)

Within the limited yet intimate space of Doolin Gallery in the Meadows School of the Arts, SMU theater students tackled another Shakespeare parody this past weekend.

Unlike the majority of Shakespeare comedic interpretations, SMU theater students commendably and gracefully performed “Lear,” a play by Young Jean Lee, with genuine humor and drama.

The natural and unadorned setting amongst a bare Doolin Gallery forced the actors to color the atmosphere for the audience with their theatrical skills.

The play’s costumes were a homemade collection of garbage bags as capes, and cardboard and playbills as royal dresses.

With ultimately nothing to physically work with, the actors wowed their audiences with their line deliverance but mostly with their audience engagement.

Throughout “Lear’s” duration, each actor had “hands-on” with the viewers. Audience members that weren’t getting a kick out of the play’s hilarity had fearful faces – wishing that an actor would cite their monologue while caressing someone else’ face.

Cordelia, played by SMU junior Afomia Hailemeskel, put the audience into hysterics. With a sense of ease, Hailemeskel allowed her arrogant and deranged character to become the most relatable and hilarious character from King Lear’s three daughters.

The other four actors in the play fed off the audience’s laughter as well. The two sons of Gloucester – Gloucester being an advisor to King Lear – acted more like Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum than members of the court.

And the audience loved it.

As the events of the play unfolded, the tension between the Shakespeare characters increased – dialogue became faster and more vulgar.

The desperation the characters felt towards their fathers’ deaths and abandonment led to the climax of “Lear.”

Using the dark and minimal space to its advantage, the Doolin Gallery played with the lighting to create drama and undeniable hilarity. Black outs and audience lighting allowed the audience to seem as if they were on stage and a part of “Lear” themselves.

As witty lines from the “Lear” play came to a close, the five actors lost their scrappy costumes and transitioned into slightly different personas.

The mood was no longer satirical but deep and serious. In order to create a moral lesson out of the absurd “Lear characters,” the new characters were emotional and sympathetic.

SMU sophomore theater major Stephen Gardner gave one of the, if not the, best monologue of the play’s duration. Gardner played Edmund for nearly 75 percent of “Lear” as a very confused but harmful character.

In “Lear’s” conclusion, Gardner presented a brilliant monologue involving his insecurities and regrets towards his father, who is dying. This related back to the remorse that the “Lear” characters started to feel when their disastrous actions became reality.

Without any warning or suspect, audience members experienced a change in setting – from comedic to emotional.

The range of sentiments these five SMU theater students evoked was truly admirable. With a brilliant script and talented actors, “Lear,” by Young Jean Lee was another successfully produced, directed and performed production by Meadows students. Bravo.  

SMU theater students concluded a weekend of “Lear,” performances on Sunday. “Lear” was directed by SMU sophomore theater major Josh Kumler. (Photo Courtesy of Diana Antohe)