I just made myself a couple of new userpics of myself as the Fool. I was hoping to find a Fool picture where he appeared happy or celebratory or something along those lines, and I was surprised to find there aren't really many like that, considering I was a lot of the comic relief in that play. But of course, that play is a tragedy if ever there was one, and I loved Lear-- and loving Lear in that play is a guarantee that your character will suffer. ;-)
I loved so many things about being the Fool, and one of those things was the costume. Marissa, whose astounding natural talent for costuming I've raved about before, just put the elements together so beautifully. The awesome coxcomb she made, the black and white color scheme that only he and Cordelia would have, the very classically fool concept of wearing a comical version of formal dress, with that excellent tailed jacket with its once-formal, now-tattered look, and the improperly-tied tie. It was so in character and just worked brilliantly-- she really did wonderful work.
But there is one small contribution to that most fantastic brainchild of Marissa that I made. The black pants I was given were enormous on me, enough that I am not exaggerating when I say that another Phoebe could have fit in there with me. Kinda made me look like a tree trunk from the waist down, which did not give me the spritely physicality I felt the character needed. So I rolled up the pant legs to the knee, and it just clicked. Short pants that don't fit all that well on somebody surrounded by people in formal clothing are an excellent way to indicate social inferiority, and it both made me look more nimble and gave me more freedom of motion. I decided early that the Fool was a creature of constant energy-- he's an entertainer, after all, he has to keep the audience engaged --who always needed to be moving and doing something with his body. Even when only in the background, I took on strange poses and kept shifting them, as if even when I had to hang back and be quiet, I needed some outlet for my energy. And as the story goes on and things get more and more hopeless for the Fool and his compatriots, his increasing loss of hope was symbolized for me in my decreasing level of energy and movement.
Also, having the coxcomb and the tie in particular facilitated my finding the final moment of the Fool onstage-- the moment the userpic for this entry depicts. In the script, the Fool has his last line, "And I'll go to bed at noon," as a joking response to something Lear says in his addled state, and then when everyone exits at the end of the scene, he just leaves with everyone else and never comes back. I always hated that, because I feel like the Fool, who has been an important character and one of Lear's most steadfast friends, deserves more of a goodbye than that. So I talked about it with Frances, and she let me play with a bit just before my exit that I felt gave the character, and his failure to return, a lot more resolution. That last scene takes place in a leanto where Lear, the Fool, Kent, and Edgar playing as Mad Tom have taken shelter from the storm. Lear's mental state has deeply deteriorated, and no matter what the Fool does, he doesn't seem to be able to protect Lear from himself, or from that sketchy nearly naked crazy guy he seems to think is a philosopher. My energy level was pretty much totally depressed at this point, because I had no hope that I could do anything to fix things. Then Gloucester appears to take them all to a safter place, and they all file out, except Mad Tom and the Fool. I sadly watched them leave, then I look around, taking in the situation. With a last evaluating look at Mad Tom, I loosen my tie, take off my coxcomb, and regard it a moment. Finally, I disgustedly repeat my last line, "And I'll go to bed at noon," as if to say, "That's all I had? That's the only thing I could think of to say to him?" At last I make my exit, with none of my former spritely energy, coxcomb and tie removed to symbolize that I knew I no longer had the ability to be the faithful, spirit-lifting Fool to my lord King Lear.
I always figured the Fool dies after that, though I'm not sure how. I know textually in tragedies support characters have to go after a certain point so that the show can reach its tragic conclusion-- Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet has a similar disappearance to the Fool. Moments like the above really made me feel inside the character, though. I really feel I portrayed him better than any other I've played onstage. One of the greatest compliments I've ever recieved as an actor was to be told that someone saw the show and didn't realize that Cordelia and the Fool were played by the same actor. :-) God, that means a lot to me. Frances was such a huge help, both in helping me understand who I was playing and in working with me to achieve it. As a director, she had a way of working WITH actors that I'm still working on being able to achieve. She trusted us, she let us try things-- huge compliments to give to actors. Also, she herself was a big inspiration to me. I modeled a lot of what I did with the Fool on the acting style of Frances, partially because I thought it fit so well, and partially because since it was her own way of acting, she could give me such useful advice and perspective on it. I really feel like the two of us accomplished something great together with that character.
Wow. I initially just meant to just mention I liked how the Fool's pants looked rolled up like that. As if often the way with my thoughts, I start with something small and things just explode from there. :-)
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