A ‘King Lear’ That Moves Right Along

FreightTrain Shakespeare has been aptly named. Under the direction of Tom Quaintance, the group invests “King Lear” at the Gascon Center Theatre with a propulsive momentum that carries the action along like, well, like a speeding freight train.

When certain actors lower their voices to a cinematically intimate level, the words do get lost in the rumble and roar of this theatrical engine. However, the performers are generally fierce and fine, and Quaintance emphasizes language over gimmickry throughout. Quaintance’s bare-bones approach strips Shakespeare of artifice and results in a thoughtful, austere production that occasionally falls into excess, as in the grossly Grand Guignol blinding of Gloucester (Thomas Kopache).

Always commanding, Erick Avari plays Lear with a robust strength that never collapses into genuine decrepitude nor, unfortunately, pitiableness. In their respective portrayals as Goneril and Regan, the delightfully spiteful Martha Hackett and Susan Brindley-Jessop remind us that these are really the best roles in the play.

* “King Lear,” Gascon Center Theatre, 8735 Washington Blvd., Culver City. Thursdays-Saturdays, 8 p.m.; Sundays, 7 p.m. Ends Aug . 20. $17. (213) 466-1767. Running time: 2 hours, 45 minutes.