Shakespeare by the Sea's The Tragedy of King Lear

On July 30th, I saw the Shakespeare by the Sea production of Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of King Lear at Rush Park in Rossmoor.  It was a lovely experience.  I went with a few friends, and we were able to picnic in the park, and enjoy the play for free.  I had never seen King Lear before, and had some difficulty keeping up with the story-line, but my friends were familiar with the play and were able to explain the parts that I could not understand.  

The director of the play explained that she had to condense the play into two hours, so there were parts that she had to cut out.  The second I heard this, I immediately thought about the issue of authorial control.  I wished that I was more familiar with the play so that I could see the affect that the omissions had to the overall story.  I told my friends to let me know how they thought it affected the play.  After the show, my friends asked me what I thought of the relationship that Lear had with his three daughters.  The play that I watched showed a lot more interaction with Lear and Cordelia, and did not show much of him with the other daughters.  I told them that Cordelia was obviously the more loving daughter and most deserving of the kingdom, and Goneril and Regan did not take good care of Lear, since the play hardly showed much of the time that Lear lived with them.  They explained to me that Cordelia was definitely the better daughter, but that the director cut out a lot of the scenes that had interactions with Goneril and Regan.  This explained a lot, because I was confused at how Lear was able to think that they were more deserving of his kingdom.  

This was a prime example of authorial control.  The director had the choice of what scenes to cut out, and she could have possibly made the story seem much different.  Luckily though, her omissions did not change the overall story, and I was able to enjoy the basic story of The Tragedy of King Lear.

Another issue of authorial control that I thought about was how Shakespeare kills Cordelia in the end of the story.  Being the writer, he had the control to make the story end however he wanted.  He could have found some way to make her the heir to the kingdom, and everyone could have lived happily ever-after.  I wonder if his decision to have her die in the end caused any sort of up-roar, like with Harry Potter and The Princess Bride.