A year of Lear: Four new stagings hone in on the tragedy’s timeless lessons

A rare alignment of stars formed on the Tokyo theater scene as four major productions of William Shakespeare’s “King Lear” unfold, all within the span of one year. Two of those have already concluded. Last October, Shinobu Otake, three-time Japan academy award winner, stage and film actress, challenged the tragic and traditionally male monarch with a subversive twist.

This May, veteran Shakespearean actor and director, Kotaro Yoshida, who was awarded the Medal with Purple Ribbon (a biannual honor for accomplishments in academics, sports, culture and arts), played the tragic king in a string of performances at the Saitama Performing Arts Theater. The play is part of the theater’s acclaimed Sainokuni Shakespeare Series, which cycles through all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays, and after its Tokyo premiere it toured domestically this summer.