King Lear is one of the most famous, and best, Shakespeare plays ever written. It’s an epic family drama with twists and turns. 

   In King Lear, the titular character, Lear, decides that, as he is aging, he must split up his empire among his daughters, who all decide to compete for territory, money, and power. This play has inspired many different other plays, movies, and TV shows, from The Godfather Part 3 to Succession to Game of Thrones. 

   I was lucky enough to actually see the play in person, performed in Washington Square Park by the students of New York University. I don’t get the chance to watch many plays, but I’ve watched a decent number; enough to know what I enjoy and what I don’t enjoy. The issue with a play as well-known as King Lear is that it needs to be done in a way that is unexpected yet still logical. 

   NYU’s club, Shakespeare in the Square, decided to add comedy to tragedy. Comedy is already difficult, but to add it into a Shakespeare work like this one is both daring and unexpected.

   I loved it. The brave decision paid off, and it was excellent in its effectiveness. Everybody watching was laughing throughout at all the right points. Not a single character lacked comedy, and almost every scene had something that was comedic, up until the very final heartbreaking act. 

   In particular, the antagonist of the story, Edmund, was charismatic and hilarious, completely unlike how I pictured him when reading. I imagined that he would be intimidating, dark, and brooding, but this play had a different rendition; one that, frankly, I enjoyed more than my own. 

   As King Lear descends into madness, as does the world around him, it also helped the comedy in many different ways. But the humor was balanced excellently with all of the heartbreaking, emotional turmoil. The bloodbath ending was as shocking as I had imagined, and just as heartbreaking. At three different points in the play, I teared up, most memorably at the end. 

   Perhaps I am biased simply because they performed my favorite Shakespearean work, and my favorite play in general, but I thought that their interpretation was flawless. There was not a second of boredom, not a second without conflict or some humorous aspect between characters. Menacing characters like Edmund were completely different from what I had imagined, while the immortal role of King Lear was just as I had pictured him. 

   I had never seen a Shakespearean work performed prior to this. But, there is no doubt in my mind that this will be one of the most memorable plays that I will ever watch.