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KING LEARLa MaMa ETC Annex, 74 E. Fourth St.; (212) 475-7710. Through July 2.
SHAKESPEARE'S "King Lear" is a play usually thought of in grand terms, from its magisterial title role to its storm-drenched action.
But the version currently playing at La MaMa, a production of a new theater company from Boston called the Actors' Shakespeare Project, couldn't be simpler: It's presented on a stage covered in mulch, its only props a few chairs, a small desk and a Persian rug; the storm is suggested through the swaying of the overhead light fixtures.
Yet this is as clear and intimate a production of the play as you're likely to see, thanks to the firm directorial hand of Patrick Swanson, a well-honed ensemble and the superb Lear of Alvin Epstein, who - now in his 80s - is delivering the performance of a lifetime.
Epstein is no stranger to the play, having appeared decades ago as the Fool in a production starring Orson Welles. His Lear is hardly a majestic figure: Frail and reed-thin, his white hair wildly askew, he seems less a king driven to madness than an elderly relative suffering from dementia.
But he superbly captures the complex emotional essence of the character, delivering a deeply felt, powerful portrait of paternal love and false pride that provides a down-to-earth element to a play too often defined by its set pieces.
His Lear is so distinctly human that you'll find yourself being moved as never before, no matter how many other "Lears" you've seen.
He's well supported by the rest of the large cast, the standout of which is Benjamin Evett's scheming Edmund. Although Evett, who's also the company's artistic director, gets a bit too literal in his gestures - rest assured you'll see some actual thrusting if the character utters the word - he delivers a charismatic performance that gives the lengthy evening some much needed humor.
Although the prospect of sitting on folding chairs through 3 1/2 hours of Shakespeare may not sound inviting, this is one production that serious theater lovers shouldn't miss.
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