Lear

Wow. Last night I had the privilege of attending the opening night of Monash University Shakespeare company's performance of King Lear...it was amazing! Not only was the performance space set up in the way of a "catwalk" but it featured a large mask of which the mouth became the entrance and exit of the characters. The lighting design was fantastic, the music made it intriguing and the special effects had me squirming in my seat (blood, vomit, gunshots!). It was also performed in a commedia del'arte style which only made it even greater. I must commend each and every performer and crew member for their fantastic work, I couldn't keep my eyes off the stage. I must of course, continuing on from my previous blog entry, mention my uber talented boyfriend, Nick. I've been able to see how his mind works (reading lines, finding costumes etc.) in each production and then seeing it all come together on stage, it blows me away every time. The character Edmund does not have a huge part in the script but Nick managed to create such a strong prescence on stage he was unmissable. I was also very impressed, as funny as it seems, at his ending scene where he was shot, to quote my mother, "He looked like he was actually dying! It was scary!" . Congratualtions to everyone involved. If you have read this and live in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne I definitely reccomend you see this performance, and every performance by Monash Univeristy, they are just superb! I can't wait to see it again next week! Now off to book a seat to see Koonung's rendition of The Threepenny Opera!

Photography by Christopher Bryant (also the director and music composer of King Lear)