The video I chose was from the stage drama Lear King on the National Theatre channel. This section is SCENE1 in ACT1. The most interesting part of this video is the costumes of the actors. The actors are dressed in suits, while the actresses are wearing modern costumes. This change in stage costumes makes the whole scene happen as if it did take place in modern times.
In the whole video, the plot of the story has not changed. It is still in accordance with the original work. King Lear asked his daughters to speak in turn and express their love for him in exchange for land and wealth. The difference is that in this video, King Lear’s dress is far from what we saw in the class before, and even generate different associations and speculations about the identity of this person. King Lear in the video is more like a boss of a big enterprise who is distributing his private property to his daughters. In the same way, King Lear always using power as a bargaining chip for exchanging the love in the two stage plays.
It is not wise to exchange power with power. I don’t think this will work in any era. King Lear’s eldest daughter, Regan, and his second daughter, Goneril, have the same lines in the video. The eldest daughter is like reciting a manuscript. The performance of the second daughter is even more exaggerated. No matter how much they say that they love King Lear, when the purpose of their speech becomes to the exchanging for power, this love does not exist. The tragedy of King Lear was also born here.
I think that the costumes of the actors are deliberately modeled on the wearing of the modern people. This is another main reason why I chose this video. I think the crew wants to express that the tragedy of King Lear is not far from our real life. When people try to use power as a bargaining chip to exchange love, then the tragedy will continue to happen.