Meeting the demands of ‘Lear’

The beautiful Theatricum Botanicum, tucked away in the hills of Topanga Canyon, opens its 30th anniversary celebration with a rousing production of “King Lear.”

Any production of “Lear” rises and falls with the actor who plays the title role, one of the most demanding in Shakespeare’s canon. Although a bit young for the part, Steve Matt is up to the challenge, conveying Lear’s agonizing progression from the proud to the pitiable with subtlety and skill. Matt is particularly effective in the mad scenes. Stumbling and exhausted, Matt’s mad Lear has the lolling head and starting eyes of a terrified horse caught in a fire. However, in his extremity, this Lear sometimes drops his voice to an agonized whisper difficult to hear.

That’s a minor failing in an otherwise measured turn. Indeed, in roles small and large, this is a uniformly impressive cast. William Dennis Hunt is an excellent Gloucester, shrieking through his graphic blinding scene with gut-wrenching realism. Justin Doran is also outstanding as Gloucester’s wronged and fugitive son, Edgar, forced to disguise himself as a ranting madman in order to escape his father’s unjust wrath. Of course, the part where Edgar baits and torments his blind and suicidal father on the verge of a cliff, purportedly for altruistic reasons, is always problematic. Perhaps Gloucester, the gullible dupe of his illegitimate son Edmund, deserved this contrived comeuppance. Even so, although it may be blasphemous to say it, this clunky scene could have used an Elizabethan script doctor with a big red quill.

Many of the roles are double cast. Richard Biggs plays the villainous Edmund with visceral energy and a gangbanger’s swagger. Biggs overplays at the end, snarling and clawing the air like a road-show tiger, but up until then, he is rawly effective. Susan Angelo is a sheer delight as Lear’s heartless daughter, Goneril. Steely and poised, she sweeps around the stage like a carrion bird looking for lunch. Softer but no less merciless, Abby Craden is also fine as the venal Regan, Goneril’s sister and co-conspirator. Inara George renders a heartfelt, thoughtful Cordelia, while Kelly Vincent invests the Duke of Cornwall with a sneering sangfroid that is just right. Melora Marshall makes her Fool caustic and caring by turns, Alan Blumenfeld is a sturdy Kent, and Steve Marvel is quietly commanding as the Duke of Albany. The women are clad, beautifully, in gowns by Charlotte A. Kruse.

Ellen Geer’s staging is mostly crisp, although the limitations of the space force some unwieldy choices. Actors enter via the natural hillsides, sometimes, distractingly, with other scenes still in progress. Having the blind Gloucester shove the slain Oswald (Jim LeFebvre) off a platform during another character’s speech is risibly awkward, and the decision to have the battle between French and English forces fought with cross-staffs rather than swords seems more apropos of a village skirmish than a war.

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‘King Lear’

Where: The Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 N. Topanga Canyon Blvd., Topanga

When: Sundays only, 3 p.m.

Ends: Sept. 28

Price: $14-$22

Contact: (310) 455-3723

Running time: 2 hours, 50 minutes