The Ice Chorus
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The Ice Chorus
Liselle Dupre's passionate midlife affair with a Welsh painter named Charlie has destroyed her marriage. A filmmaker, she travels to a small Irish town where she hopes to document the complex lives of a local family, the Conners, who befriend her. This project runs parallel to Lise's own story, as she recalls not only an idyllic interlude with her lover, but details of her childhood that she needs to examine--all the while waiting, in the rough coastal village, for Charlie to come and claim her, or for the strength and independence she has acquired to see her through if he doesn't.
Drama
King Lear
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King Lear
Shakespeare probably wrote KING LEAR in 1605, but the action of the play takes place in the eighth century B.C. Lear, the elderly king of Britain, is ready to cease his rule and divide his kingdom among his three daughters. But his heart hardens against his youngest daughter, Cordelia, who refuses to give him the glib flattery he seeks, and he capriciously disowns her. Cordelia marries the king of France, leaving the kingdom to her two unsavory sisters, Goneril and Regan, who promptly begin scheming to strip Lear of not only his authority but his dignity. The old king, devastated by their insulting treatment of him, begins to lose his reason. Forced to flee, he wanders into the wilderness, accompanied by his devoted Fool and by Kent, a nobleman in disguise who stays true to him. As Lear faces a devastating storm and encounters a variety of men, both noble and depraved, his daughters take revenge on anyone who tries to help him, including his old friend Gloucester, who is cruelly blinded before he too is turned out into the wild. Eventually, all these characters make their way to Dover, where Cordelia has landed with the French army under the command of her husband in an attempt to save her father's kingdom. As more blood is shed and the two evil sisters are finally vanquished, one of Shakespeare's saddest endings closes the play, as Lear gives into his grief after Cordelia's death, realizing that it was she who, after all, loved him the best. In KING LEAR, with its bleak vision of the human life, Shakespeare deals with questions of justice and injustice, and whether the world is indifferent to the fate of mankind. The play is interesting for its depictions of madness in several characters, from the professionally nonsensical Fool to Lear's own ravings in the depths of his confusion. KING LEAR is also a probing examination of family and its implications, and of a proud man who is brought low before he is able to understand, too late, what constitutes true goodness...
Drama
Henry IV
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Henry IV
While King Henry IV rightly laments that his heir, the young Prince Hal, has not distinguished himself in battle, Hal is up to no good at the Boar's Head Tavern with his rotund cohort, Falstaff. With a rebellion rising against the throne at home, Hal lives it up in the ale houses of London, associating with petty schemers and masterminding practical jokes instead of military strategies. When his father sends a messenger to fetch his delinquent son, will Hal rally to the call? Written prior to 1596, this much-loved play is referred to in multiple memoirs and documents of the day and in subsequent decades, including Samuel Pepys's diary, attesting to its impact and popularity. Blending action that takes place at court with scenes of city life, HENRY IV PART 1 marks a turning-point in Shakespeare's oeuvre, as action unfolds simultaneously in diverse locations, lending texture and variety to the drama, and involving characters drawn not only from the ranks of court, but from London's seedier byways. The sway of chaos and order, the perennial theme of Shakespeare's histories, is present here in the juxtaposition of the political realm with the Epicurean.
Drama
