In March of 2020, Hunter College’s Theater Company presented “Lear,” an adaptaion of “King Lear” by William Shakespeare. The play is described as a collision between Shakespeare’s King Lear, Sesame Street, and Young Jean Lee’s own take on the theme of dealing with a father’s mortality. Lee’s LEAR focuses not on the aging Lear and Gloucester, but rather on their adult children who turned their backs on their fathers’ suffering. An absurdist tragedy about familial piety, despair, and the end of life.

Anjor’s Note: Cordelia was the first role I’d taken on in a few years—it was right before the pandemic and my good friend, Sarah Shea, was directing this show, and asked me to audition. I am so glad I did because “Lear” was such a challenging and captivating experience. Some of the dialogue in the show seems, at first glance, absolutely absurd and nonsensical. However, wading through text of the play and working together with Sarah and my castmates to craft the world of the show helped me find the heartbreaking truth and vulnerability in this character, letting me deliver lines about eating cow tongues and loaves of bread with sincerity. Putting on these performances right before the world shut down due to COVID-19 was the icing on the absurdist cake.