Act 1, Scene 1 Summary

This play uses William Shakespeare's classic King Lear as the starting point for a contemporary exploration of violence - physical, emotional, spiritual, and political. Part of this exploration is a searching look at the effect that violence has on those that perpetrate it, as well as on those who are its victims. Secondary themes relating to the nature of love and of guilt are also developed.

At the site of construction on a wall Lear is building to keep out his country's enemies, a foreman and several workers struggle in vain to help an injured laborer, but the worker soon dies. Lear, Warrington, Bodice, and Fontanelle, accompanied by an engineer and several aides, arrive shortly afterward. As Fontanelle complains about how wet her feet are and Bodice thanks the engineer for giving them the tour, Lear complains about how badly the...