King Lear

How to stage Act 1 scene 1 of King Lear
This section asks students to solve a wide range of staging issues raised in the play's opening scene. It also describes a number of ways in which the scene has been staged in past RSC productions of the play.

Objectives
The aim of this section is to enable students to:

  - think like a director in their approach to a Shakespeare scene
  - gain close knowledge of Act 1 scene 1 through practical work
  - assess the effect on an audience of design and blocking choices

Introducing the world of the play
The way in which the opening scene of any play is staged is critical because the scene establishes the situation (and back story) and introduces the audience to the characters and world of the play. In the first scene the director, set and costume designers and actors have to convey a great deal of information to the audience in a short time frame. They do this by means of setting, costumes and stage pictures as well as by what is said and done. Act 1 scene 1 of King Lear is just over 300 lines long. In this scene, the king, behaving irrationally, rashly, disowns and exiles both the loyal Earl of Kent and his favourite daughter, Cordelia, who leaves for France. Lear divides his kingdom between his two elder daughters, Gonerill and Regan. At the start of the play, the whole British world is turned upside down. A key phrase would seem to be Gonerill's line: 'We must do something, and i'th'heat' [1.1.306].

Act 1 scene 1
The opening lines of King Lear establish the ideas of favouritism, conflict and the King's capriciousness.

They tell us that the king is planning to divide the kingdom, a matter he has already apparently discussed with Gloucester and Kent. Do you think Lear has also discussed the division (what he later refers to as his 'darker purpose') with his daughters and sons-in-law?

Try this
Sitting in a circle, read the whole scene out loud.

In small groups, discuss possible ways to stage the scene. Each

group could consider a single staging aspect of the scene. Share

your ideas with the rest of the group.

Ask:
How do the decisions made by one group impact on decisions

made by other groups?
How do these practical decisions change the audience's reading of

the play?

If there is time, act out and compare different versions of the scene.

Consider the following questions:

Setting
In what period will you choose to set the play - Ancient Britain? a
Jacobean world? an alternative setting? Will particular periods alienate or engage an audience?

What are the implications of choosing a modern setting? If the
play is set in a world in which wars are fought with guns rather than swords, what are the implications for events later in the play (e.g. the battle in Act 5)?

Can the play work in a world of modern communication systems -
if characters could email or text each other, would the outcome be different?

What happens to references to pagan gods or Christian
references in, for example, a modern setting?

Given your choice of period, what are the implications for
costume and ceremony in Lear's court?

Venue
The performance space has an effect on the design of the play. What kind of playing space will you choose? At the RSC, King Lear is often produced in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, a proscenium arch theatre which seats roughly 1400: do you think this is done for mainly commercial or artistic reasons? What difference would it make to perform the play in:

- a small studio space like The Other Place which seats 90?
- a theatre like the Swan (which seats around 400) or the Globe?
- traverse or in the round?

Is it important that everyone in the audience gets the same view
of the stage? Is the experience of seeing the play the same no matter where people sit in the auditorium?

If you chose to use a studio space, where will you put the
audience? How close will they be to the action? Does this have implications for the scene in which Gloucester's eyes are plucked out?

In which ways is the play suited to a theatre like the Swan, which
has a thrust stage and audience on three sides?

Would the play work well in a large proscenium arch ('picture
frame') theatre like the Royal Shakespeare Theatre?

Does the choice of theatre have an impact on the audience's
involvement with the play?

Props - the scene demands a map and a coronet
The map:
How many different ways can you think of to represent the map?

Will you have the map on the floor? The walls? A board or flip
chart? Is the map part fo the set or a prop?

How large does the map need to be (this will depend, in part, on
your choice of theatre space)?

How important is the division of Britain as a visual symbol in this
scene?

Is the map marked up as Lear carves up the Kingdom?

Is the map cut into pieces and handed out? Has Lear already
marked the boundaries before the scene starts?

The coronet:
Is the coronet brought on stage on a cushion, as the Quarto
version suggests?

Is Lear wearing the coronet when the scene begins?

Are each of the women already wearing a coronet when the scene
begins? Or are three coronets brought in? If so, when, by whom and how are Gonerill and Regan given theirs?

Furniture:
What furniture do you want to use, and why?

Do you need a throne/ table/ chairs?

Who will sit (or stand or kneel) and when?

What signals are you giving your audience through your choice
and use of furniture?

Stage Pictures:
How important is balance and symmetry?

What is the visual impact of there being three daughters rather
than two? Is imbalance a problem?

Are you going to make anything of the fact that the scene opens
with 3 men and closes with 2 women?

Who would you like to stand centre stage and when?

Where best can you position Cordelia, given that she has asides
to the audience?

Will your staging emphasise the balance and contrast between
Lear's rejection of Cordelia and his rejection of Kent?

How will your staging contrast Burgundy's rejection of Cordelia
and France's acceptance of her?

Will you establish something on stage so that Lear's initial
invocations of the gods resonate when he calls on them later in the play?

status

Consider the following questions:

How will you convey Lear's royal status in this opening scene?

How will you establish the status of the other characters in
relation to Lear - through trappings of royalty? Behaviour? Both?

Who will kneel, when and to whom?

Will you use music or sound effects at any point (e.g. to signal the
arrival of the king)?

How do Kent and Gloucester know that the king is coming? In
some editions you will find the stage direction sound a sennet.

Do Gonerill and Regan enter with their husbands, their father or
with Cordelia? What are your choices saying to the audience?

How will you stage Cordelia's entrance?

Does Edmund stay on when the king enters?

Are there lots of extras (onlookers) in this scene or is it
essentially a domestic scene?

How does the body language of Kent, Gloucester and Kent change
when the court enters?

At line 162 the stage direction reads He makes to strike him - will
Lear actually strike Kent? If so, will anyone attempt to restrain the
king?

Gender balance:
Look at the gender balance in the scene. At which moments are Gonerill and Regan important and at which moments is the focus and political weight given to their husbands? Does any of this surprise you? How can your staging support or subvert this?

Motivation
What are Kent and Gloucester doing at the beginning? Try finding some appropriate activity for them. Kent and Gloucester know about the division of the kingdom but has Lear planned the 'love-test' or is it a spur of the moment decision? How unbalanced is Lear's mind at the start of the play? How old or feeble is he? How surprising is his behaviour to members of the court and how will you show this visually? Look for the moments of change, the moments of shock and the moments of silence in the scene and ask at which points you might have moments of physical contact and between whom.

The visual test
How clear would your staging be for a member of the audience who was deaf or who spoke no English? Trying playing the scene mouthing or whispering the lines, rather than speaking them out loud. Discuss the results.

Symbolic versus Naturalistic, Practical versus Artistic

What difference does the stage set make to our impression of the
play?

Which elements of the set are symbolic and which naturalistic?
Which are merely decorative?

Which aspects of the set are useful for actors?

What difference does it make if you use a set (or venue) that
offers different playing levels? How can the use of different levels
further the story telling and highlight particular themes?

And finally - are there any justified opportunities for humour in this scene?

After you have considered all of the above, you might like to consider ways different directors and designers have chosen to stage this scene. If you have seen a production of the play or have access to any video versions of King Lear, analyse and compare their opening scenes.

Past RSC solutions

Adrian Noble's production [RSC 1982] featured a very prominent Fool, played by Antony Sher. In line with this, the opening moments of the play showed the Fool and Cordelia - the Fool on Lear's throne, Cordelia on the table, each with the string of a cat's cradle around their necks (NB Shakespeare does not include the Fool until Act 1 scene 4 line 96).

Nicholas Hytner's production [RSC 1990] was dominated by an enormous white cube as the central set element. The opening lines were played as servants and nobles rushed to prepare for the court scene. Edmund helped Gloucester dress in his gold court robes, and three ornate gold chairs were brought in for the three daughters, set across the front of the stage facing upstage. A further chair was set centre stage in the cube, and draped with blue silk. When Lear entered, everyone sank to their knees in two rows facing upstage. Lear himself staggered on with the map on a large flipchart, which also was draped in blue silk. Having positioned the flipchart and seated himself, there was a moment of humour when Lear realised he couldn't reach to unveil it and had to gesture for it to be brought closer: 'Give me the map here.' Cornwall and Albany stepped forward and shook hands in public reconciliation after Lear announced his intention 'that future strife may be prevented now'. There was an immensely long and painful pause after the lines 'France and Burgundy,/ Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love,/ Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn,/ And here are to be answered' as the court waited for them to arrive. When Gloucester still failed to return with the suitors, Lear filled the embarrassing gap with the 'love test'.

Adrian Noble's production [RSC 1993] featured an outline drawing of Britain as the stage floor. On 'give me the map here', Lear gestured to the floor and there was laughter and polite applause as the court moved off the map, 'giving' him the space. The only furniture was a single rough chair, brought on by the Fool. As Lear divided the kingdom, the Fool rushed about with a paint pot, marking boundary divisions. Gonerill sat on the chair for her protestation, Regan stood in front of it but Lear led Cordelia to stand on it, like a small girl being made to perform for her father's party guests. Each of the women wore a coronet, and Lear seized Cordelia's from her to offer it to Albany and Cornwall. The coronet was held high in the air as he went to strike Kent, and Albany and Cornwall physically held him back from doing so. France knelt to Cordelia to ask for her hand, but otherwise mirrored Burgundy's blocking very closely. All entrances and exits were made from the side wings.

Yukio Ninagawa's production [RSC 1999], in which Nigel Hawthorne played Lear, made great use of swirling cloaks and atmospheric music. The simple physicality of Lear's swirling entrance and the use he made of the costume gave clues that he relied on show rather than natural authority. He was clearly a whimsical king, humoured by court and family. When he posed the love-test, Regan rushed forward to protest her love and had to be prevented by Lear's 'Gonerill, Our eldest born, speak first'. The stage was dominated by a massive spot-lit throne placed on a plinth with three steps leading up to it on all sides, which gave the actors a range of playing levels. Major entrances and exits were all made from upstage centre, through double doors which swung open to reveal a wide backlit central catwalk. The map was a large rectangular carpet (also spot-lit) brought on and unrolled on cue - Lear indicated the divisions with an enormous sword, which he also used to threaten Kent. The coronet was Lear's own massive high-pointed crown, which he threw down on the map. When Burgundy rejected Cordelia, Lear exited believing the session was over and was stopped upstage centre by the King of France's unexpected declaration of marriage. When everyone else left the stage, Gonerill established herself on the throne, while Regan lounged in front of her on the carpet playing with the crown. The scene ended with the two sisters sitting next to each other on the carpet.

RSC 2002: Declan Donellan's production for the RSC Academy was staged in the Swan. Gonerill, Regan and Cordelia started in the top gallery, segregated from the men. The elder two came down to stage level to make almost game-show public declarations of love.


			This section asks students to solve a wide range of staging issues raised in the play's opening scene. It also describes a number of ways in which the scene has been staged in past RSC productions of the play. The aim of this section is to enable students to: - think like a director in their approach to a Shakespeare scene - gain close knowledge of Act 1 scene 1 through practical work - assess the effect on an audience of design and blocking choices The way in which the opening scene of any play is staged is critical because the scene establishes the situation (and back story) and introduces the audience to the characters and world of the play. In the first scene the director, set and costume designers and actors have to convey a great deal of information to the audience in a short time frame. They do this by means of setting, costumes and stage pictures as well as by what is said and done. Act 1 scene 1 of King Lear is just over 300 lines long. In this scene, the king, behaving irrationally, rashly, disowns and exiles both the loyal Earl of Kent and his favourite daughter, Cordelia, who leaves for France. Lear divides his kingdom between his two elder daughters, Gonerill and Regan. At the start of the play, the whole British world is turned upside down. A key phrase would seem to be Gonerill's line: 'We must do something, and i'th'heat' [1.1.306]. The opening lines of King Lear establish the ideas of favouritism, conflict and the King's capriciousness. They tell us that the king is planning to divide the kingdom, a matter he has already apparently discussed with Gloucester and Kent. Do you think Lear has also discussed the division (what he later refers to as his 'darker purpose') with his daughters and sons-in-law? Sitting in a circle, read the whole scene out loud. In small groups, discuss possible ways to stage the scene. Each group could consider a single staging aspect of the scene. Share your ideas with the rest of the group. How do the decisions made by one group impact on decisions made by other groups? How do these practical decisions change the audience's reading of the play? If there is time, act out and compare different versions of the scene. In what period will you choose to set the play - Ancient Britain? a Jacobean world? an alternative setting? Will particular periods alienate or engage an audience? What are the implications of choosing a modern setting? If the play is set in a world in which wars are fought with guns rather than swords, what are the implications for events later in the play (e.g. the battle in Act 5)? Can the play work in a world of modern communication systems - if characters could email or text each other, would the outcome be different? What happens to references to pagan gods or Christian references in, for example, a modern setting? Given your choice of period, what are the implications for costume and ceremony in Lear's court? The performance space has an effect on the design of the play. What kind of playing space will you choose? At the RSC, King Lear is often produced in the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, a proscenium arch theatre which seats roughly 1400: do you think this is done for mainly commercial or artistic reasons? What difference would it make to perform the play in: - a small studio space like The Other Place which seats 90? - a theatre like the Swan (which seats around 400) or the Globe? - traverse or in the round? Is it important that everyone in the audience gets the same view of the stage? Is the experience of seeing the play the same no matter where people sit in the auditorium? If you chose to use a studio space, where will you put the audience? How close will they be to the action? Does this have implications for the scene in which Gloucester's eyes are plucked out? In which ways is the play suited to a theatre like the Swan, which has a thrust stage and audience on three sides? Would the play work well in a large proscenium arch ('picture frame') theatre like the Royal Shakespeare Theatre? Does the choice of theatre have an impact on the audience's involvement with the play? The map: How many different ways can you think of to represent the map? Will you have the map on the floor? The walls? A board or flip chart? Is the map part fo the set or a prop? How large does the map need to be (this will depend, in part, on your choice of theatre space)? How important is the division of Britain as a visual symbol in this scene? Is the map marked up as Lear carves up the Kingdom? Is the map cut into pieces and handed out? Has Lear already marked the boundaries before the scene starts? The coronet: Is the coronet brought on stage on a cushion, as the Quarto version suggests? Is Lear wearing the coronet when the scene begins? Are each of the women already wearing a coronet when the scene begins? Or are three coronets brought in? If so, when, by whom and how are Gonerill and Regan given theirs? Furniture: What furniture do you want to use, and why? Do you need a throne/ table/ chairs? Who will sit (or stand or kneel) and when? What signals are you giving your audience through your choice and use of furniture? Stage Pictures: How important is balance and symmetry? What is the visual impact of there being three daughters rather than two? Is imbalance a problem? Are you going to make anything of the fact that the scene opens with 3 men and closes with 2 women? Who would you like to stand centre stage and when? Where best can you position Cordelia, given that she has asides to the audience? Will your staging emphasise the balance and contrast between Lear's rejection of Cordelia and his rejection of Kent? How will your staging contrast Burgundy's rejection of Cordelia and France's acceptance of her? Will you establish something on stage so that Lear's initial invocations of the gods resonate when he calls on them later in the play? Consider the following questions: How will you convey Lear's royal status in this opening scene? How will you establish the status of the other characters in relation to Lear - through trappings of royalty? Behaviour? Both? Who will kneel, when and to whom? Will you use music or sound effects at any point (e.g. to signal the arrival of the king)? How do Kent and Gloucester know that the king is coming? In some editions you will find the stage direction sound a sennet. Do Gonerill and Regan enter with their husbands, their father or with Cordelia? What are your choices saying to the audience? How will you stage Cordelia's entrance? Does Edmund stay on when the king enters? Are there lots of extras (onlookers) in this scene or is it essentially a domestic scene? How does the body language of Kent, Gloucester and Kent change when the court enters? At line 162 the stage direction reads He makes to strike him - will Lear actually strike Kent? If so, will anyone attempt to restrain the king? Look at the gender balance in the scene. At which moments are Gonerill and Regan important and at which moments is the focus and political weight given to their husbands? Does any of this surprise you? How can your staging support or subvert this? What are Kent and Gloucester doing at the beginning? Try finding some appropriate activity for them. Kent and Gloucester know about the division of the kingdom but has Lear planned the 'love-test' or is it a spur of the moment decision? How unbalanced is Lear's mind at the start of the play? How old or feeble is he? How surprising is his behaviour to members of the court and how will you show this visually? Look for the moments of change, the moments of shock and the moments of silence in the scene and ask at which points you might have moments of physical contact and between whom. How clear would your staging be for a member of the audience who was deaf or who spoke no English? Trying playing the scene mouthing or whispering the lines, rather than speaking them out loud. Discuss the results. What difference does the stage set make to our impression of the play? Which elements of the set are symbolic and which naturalistic? Which are merely decorative? Which aspects of the set are useful for actors? What difference does it make if you use a set (or venue) that offers different playing levels? How can the use of different levels further the story telling and highlight particular themes? And finally - are there any justified opportunities for humour in this scene? After you have considered all of the above, you might like to consider ways different directors and designers have chosen to stage this scene. If you have seen a production of the play or have access to any video versions of King Lear, analyse and compare their opening scenes. Adrian Noble's production [RSC 1982] featured a very prominent Fool, played by Antony Sher. In line with this, the opening moments of the play showed the Fool and Cordelia - the Fool on Lear's throne, Cordelia on the table, each with the string of a cat's cradle around their necks (NB Shakespeare does not include the Fool until Act 1 scene 4 line 96). Nicholas Hytner's production [RSC 1990] was dominated by an enormous white cube as the central set element. The opening lines were played as servants and nobles rushed to prepare for the court scene. Edmund helped Gloucester dress in his gold court robes, and three ornate gold chairs were brought in for the three daughters, set across the front of the stage facing upstage. A further chair was set centre stage in the cube, and draped with blue silk. When Lear entered, everyone sank to their knees in two rows facing upstage. Lear himself staggered on with the map on a large flipchart, which also was draped in blue silk. Having positioned the flipchart and seated himself, there was a moment of humour when Lear realised he couldn't reach to unveil it and had to gesture for it to be brought closer: 'Give me the map here.' Cornwall and Albany stepped forward and shook hands in public reconciliation after Lear announced his intention 'that future strife may be prevented now'. There was an immensely long and painful pause after the lines 'France and Burgundy,/ Great rivals in our youngest daughter's love,/ Long in our court have made their amorous sojourn,/ And here are to be answered' as the court waited for them to arrive. When Gloucester still failed to return with the suitors, Lear filled the embarrassing gap with the 'love test'. Adrian Noble's production [RSC 1993] featured an outline drawing of Britain as the stage floor. On 'give me the map here', Lear gestured to the floor and there was laughter and polite applause as the court moved off the map, 'giving' him the space. The only furniture was a single rough chair, brought on by the Fool. As Lear divided the kingdom, the Fool rushed about with a paint pot, marking boundary divisions. Gonerill sat on the chair for her protestation, Regan stood in front of it but Lear led Cordelia to stand on it, like a small girl being made to perform for her father's party guests. Each of the women wore a coronet, and Lear seized Cordelia's from her to offer it to Albany and Cornwall. The coronet was held high in the air as he went to strike Kent, and Albany and Cornwall physically held him back from doing so. France knelt to Cordelia to ask for her hand, but otherwise mirrored Burgundy's blocking very closely. All entrances and exits were made from the side wings. Yukio Ninagawa's production [RSC 1999], in which Nigel Hawthorne played Lear, made great use of swirling cloaks and atmospheric music. The simple physicality of Lear's swirling entrance and the use he made of the costume gave clues that he relied on show rather than natural authority. He was clearly a whimsical king, humoured by court and family. When he posed the love-test, Regan rushed forward to protest her love and had to be prevented by Lear's 'Gonerill, Our eldest born, speak first'. The stage was dominated by a massive spot-lit throne placed on a plinth with three steps leading up to it on all sides, which gave the actors a range of playing levels. Major entrances and exits were all made from upstage centre, through double doors which swung open to reveal a wide backlit central catwalk. The map was a large rectangular carpet (also spot-lit) brought on and unrolled on cue - Lear indicated the divisions with an enormous sword, which he also used to threaten Kent. The coronet was Lear's own massive high-pointed crown, which he threw down on the map. When Burgundy rejected Cordelia, Lear exited believing the session was over and was stopped upstage centre by the King of France's unexpected declaration of marriage. When everyone else left the stage, Gonerill established herself on the throne, while Regan lounged in front of her on the carpet playing with the crown. The scene ended with the two sisters sitting next to each other on the carpet. RSC 2002: Declan Donellan's production for the RSC Academy was staged in the Swan. Gonerill, Regan and Cordelia started in the top gallery, segregated from the men. The elder two came down to stage level to make almost game-show public declarations of love.