Howl Howl Howl Howl
January 4, 2008
I was saddened to receive a press release from San Francisco's Pangs Theatre Company yesterday. At the eleventh hour, the company has had to cancel its production of King Lear at The Phoenix Theatre, "due to a last-minute emergency situation concerning the actor portraying King Lear."
Lear is kind of a liability when you think about it. I don't know exactly what happened to the actor in Pangs' production, but it's not necessarily unusual for the ageing performer so frequently cast in the title role of Shakespeare's tragedy to take a turn for the worse during rehearsals.
The situation makes me think of the last season of the brilliant Canadian TV series Slings & Arrows, in which the artistic director of The New Burbage Theatre Festival, Geoffrey Tennant, is in a constant struggle to keep his geriatric leading man alive.
Who knows, perhaps the actor who was supposed to play the role in Pangs' production is young and spry and the emergency situation has nothing to do with his health. Whatever befell Pangs' Lear, I hope he's doing OK.
4 Comments:
I'm curious about this press release, or why you would be dipleased to miss a production by Pangs Theatre
By Anonymous, At January 6, 2008 at 4:53 AM
Besides the fact that the show was scheduled for review in SF Weekly, it's always sad when a theatre company works hard and then has to drop its plans at the 111th hour.
By Chloe Veltman, At January 9, 2008 at 8:16 AM
saddened too..it was going to be a excellent show.
Excellent group....
By Anonymous, At January 15, 2008 at 11:58 AM
saddened too..it was going to be an excellent show.
Excellent group....
By Anonymous, At January 15, 2008 at 12:02 PM
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