Actor finds balance between Lear, Vandergelder

CEDAR CITY – Among actors the lead role of King Lear in Shakespeare’s arguably most perfect play is much coveted. But if King Lear is to be played well, with all the richness of the multi-layered character Shakespeare intended, the age window in which Lear can be played with energy and intensity is very narrow.

Dan Kremer, who plays King Lear for the Utah Shakespearean festival this year, has created a character whose physical vitality is waning. He has decided to split ancient Britain among his three daughters, Goneril and Regan, who are married to the Duke of Albany and the Duke of Cornwall, respectively, and Cordelia, his favorite, who is unmarried. Bent on awarding the best portion of his kingdom to the daughter who loves him most, Lear asks his daughters, "Which of you shall we say doth love us most?"

First Goneril, then Regan, are effusive in their expressions of love for their father, but Cordelia disappoints him. She will not lavish promises of love upon her father, but says only that she will love him, "according to my bond, no more no less." When she marries, she says, her husband will have half her love.

With those words, Cordelia sends her father on a spiral toward madness. He is left vulnerable to the evil intentions of his enemies, led by Edmund, the bastard son of Lear’s friend, the Earl of Gloucester.

"I continue to learn more about King Lear," said Kremer in an interview with the Intermountain Catholic June 28, the day after the play’s opening. "Every performance and rehearsal reveals a new layer of the character; the process is never complete."

Acknowledging that volumes have been written about the character of Lear alone, the deeper meanings of the play, and interpretations in light of the historical time in which the play was written (1594-1603), Kremer said, "Only through study can we discover the arc of the play and how the stories, of Lear and his daughters and Gloucester and his sons weave together. The stories in ‘King Lear’ have iron-clad structures. They’re the best constructed of all of Shakespeare’s stories."

But Kremer has more than "King Lear" to worry about this season. In the tradition of repertory theater, he also plays Horace Vandergelder in Thornton Wilder’s "The Matchmaker," a role that is about as far away from King Lear as an actor can get.

Aging businessman Vandergelder has sought out the services of Dolly Levi, a matchmaker who has promised to introduce Horace to the next Mrs. Vandergelder. Little does Horace know that Dolly has designs on him herself. "The Matchmaker" is the play from which "Hello Dolly" was derived.

"Horace offers me variety," said Kremer, whose career has included three seasons with the Utah Shakespearean Festival, 14 seasons at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and stints with theater companies across the country.

A graduate of Southern Methodist University, Kremer also has appeared on television and film in "The Fugitive," "Four Diamonds," and "Living Will."

"More than separating the characters of Lear and Horace Vandergelder, I see striking similarities between the two. They are the comic and tragic faces of an old man looking for love. Both are set in their ways, experience an influx of disappointments, and both have really bad days," said Kremer.

"There are quite a few people like King Lear today," the actor said. "Shakespeare created him with great human capacities, the ability to learn from his mistakes, and change for the better, even as he is getting older and more debilitated."

Both King Lear and Horace Vandergelder are affirming characters for audiences, said Kremer. "It’s good for audiences to see human characters with a capacity for change. In our world today we could use more of that. I think we see a lot of rigidity, and it isn’t in vogue today to let people admit they were wrong."

That human capacity to fall, then rise again is an element that keeps "King Lear" timely, Kremer said. "I hear and read a lot of analysis that compares Lear to a mountain, and I think that’s an unfortunate metaphor. The analysts are not recognizing the ability of the play to change for the times. It has such scope – immediacy and resonance for every age."

At 55, Kremer said some would say he’s a young Lear, "but it takes a young man to withstand the physical and emotional demands of the character. Richard Burbidge was 39 when he played Lear in 1607, and James Earl Jones and Paul Scofield played him in their early 40s. Peter O’Toole, one of our foremost actors, never got to play Lear, and now that he’s Lear’s age, he says he’s far too old to take on the physical demands of the role. Shakespeare wrote the character of an old man for a vital, young actor."

The more contemporary audiences can see there is even humor in "King Lear," Kremer said. "The humor in the play offers breaks from the unrelenting tragedy of the situation. That is life, a combination of laughter and joy, sadness and disappointment. Even though in today’s world, we’d like to think there is no capacity for tragedy. In the theater we like to encourage the audience to take the full ride; all the highs and lows. That’s why I take such pleasure in both Lear and Horace Vandergelder."

In the case of each character, Kremer said developing the role begins with an investigation of the text; what the character says about himself and others, and clues to the circumstances in which he finds himself.

"I try not to manufacture circumstances for the characters, but stay true to the script," the actor said. "I want to discover the character the playwright envisions. Shakespeare and Wilder were great writers. Shakespeare is the world’s best writer, and, in all humility, I know the playwrights knew what they were doing."

Playing the characters of King Lear and Horace Vandergelder in one season gives Kremer the opportunity to "exercise both sets of my acting muscles, the ones that deal best with drama and tragedy and the ones I use for comedy and romance."

This full-time actor admits that acting is not always a good living, "but it’s a wonderful way to make a life. You just have to be content with a different criteria for success other than monetary reward.

"Acting fulfills a lot of my needs," he said. "It allows me to work with the finest, most intelligent people and with some of the greatest material in environments that are creative, nurturing, and very human."

Married with a daughter, the Kremers make their home in Seattle. Dan’s wife, Cynthia, is exploring a job in Odessa Texas, and their daughter is participating in a language inversion experience in Guatemala. "So we’re sort of scattered about this summer."