Diary of a City Blogger

"The most intense, the most compelling experiences simply disappear into the ether."

this image from: https://www.maboumines.org/production/mabou-mines-lear/

While doing some research about something else entirely, I ran across this profile of Ruth Maleczech by Ross Wetzsteon, about Maleczech playing King Lear in a gender flipped version of the role (and play). Per Wetzsteon, it was apparently a troubled production: “One of the most widely believed legends trailing in the wake of Lear has it that the managing director, artistic director, and publicist of the George Street Playhouse were all fired for the fiasco, though according to present management all three left for entirely different reasons. In any case, the bulk of the New Brunswick audiences fled at intermission, which bothers Maleczech far more than bad reviews.”

I didn’t know—anything?—about this. I found a New York Times review by Frank Rich which wasn’t all that positive, though I enjoyed this detail: “When Ms. Maleczech bounces back and forth between the low-rent homes of Regan and Goneril, she is a forlor…