urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nehalenia nehalenia nehalenia 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z urn:lj:livejournal.com:atom1:nehalenia:70269 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z 2038-01-19T03:14:07Z I have a Shakespeare final on Tuesday, so I picked up the only King Lear at the video store. It's a remastered version of Joseph Papp's production for the NY Shakespeare Festival from 1974, so now I'm watching Raul Julia -- who's maybe, what, 30 here? and fucking <i>gorgeous</i> -- do a really top flight Edmond (the Bastard) and an absolutely <i>adorable</i> and <i>fluffy</i> Rene Auberjonois as his brother Edgar. Odd this may be, but it's a fabulous production. (James Earl Jones is King Lear, but the rest of the cast is just as stellar.)<br /><br />And of course, seeing Raul Julia looking young and hale and hearty and glorious reminds me that it was just a few years after that I went on a school trip to NYC and saw Mr. Julia playing the lead in <i>Dracula</i>. (Frank Langella was off making the film.) To this day, I have <i>still</i> not seen anything as overwhelmingly sexy as the scene where Dracula comes into Lucy's room, tears his shirt open and makes her drink his blood. Dear God, every person in the audience, male and female both, bent forward in our seats the moment the cloth ripped. Gods in heaven, I wanted to put a brick thru the hotel window in case a vampire like that was flying by. <br /><br />Did I mention the sets and costume design were all by Edward Gorey? Yeah. Still probably the best theatrical performance I've ever seen in person.<br /><br />Sorry. Getting nostalgic. Anyway, if you ever feel like watching King Lear -- or, like, take a Shakespeare course and don't want to reread the play -- I recommend this version.