King Lear's youngest daughter, modest Cordelia, launches full steam into physical combat. Lear, at the height of his madness, slays his devoted Fool. And Lear's middle daughter murders her husband.
These examples of directorial license typify the raw, muscular nature of Alfred Preisser's production of Shakespeare's tragedy at the Folger Theatre, where it is one of the first offerings in the six-month Shakespeare in Washington festival.
KING LEAR / / Through Feb. 18 at the Folger Theatre, 201 E. Capitol St. S.E., Washington -- $25-$50 -- 202-544-7077 or folger.edu/theatre