Lear (Teroy Guzman) weeps as he holds his daughter Cordelia (Abner Delima Jr.) in a key scene from PETA's "Haring Lear."

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) is dedicating “Haring Lear” to the late National Artist for Theater Design Salvador Bernal, an appropriate gesture given that the group’s latest production is certainly a visually arresting spectacle.

While this is a Filipino translation of the classic Shakespeare tragedy, written by no less than National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbrera, PETA’s visual palette owes much to Japanese theater with the all-male cast’s avant-garde makeup and uniform bald heads but garbed in Yohji Yamamoto-like black and white monochromatic uniforms accessorized by silver pieces.

Only Lear isn’t bald and he’s dressed in a more modern fashion – a black and white Hawaiian shirt, loose pants and flip-flops. But production designer Gino Gonzalez, a student of Salvador, maintains a very striking look that’s stylish yet ominous. (Note that in the beginning, all three daughters wear white frocks. But as the play proceeds, only Cordelia wears white.)

The color scheme is maintained in the main backdrop – metallic scaffoldings with plastic buntings – that evokes an eerie futuristic setting.

Other industrial touches, such as actual shower heads turned on the cast during an extended rainstorm sequence, add to the post-apocalyptic feel.

In one of the play’s head-scratching turns when Gloucester’s eyes are gouged, a cast-member prances in leather thongs and a trenchcoat to a French 1920s track, which seems like a nod to macabre theater with a tinge of the Nazi decadence of “Cabaret.”

But Nonon Padilla’s staging isn’t all about shock and awe. In keeping with PETA’s mission to make Shakespeare more popular and accessible to today’s audiences, the veteran theater director succeeds in sustaining interest while clearly telling the story of what many consider as Shakespeare’s best work.

“Haring Lear” is about an elderly king who, wanting to retire from power, decides to divide his kingdom among his three daughters. Goneril and Regan both proclaim their love in highly flattering terms, while Cordelia chooses to speak more honestly and is disinherited. But after gaining power, Goneril and Regan show their true characters and proceed to humiliate Lear, thus starting his descent into madness.

Not a gimmick

Local theater companies have long fiddled with “King Lear,” including one interesting turn by director Anton Juan, who cast Repertory Philippines stalwart Zeneida Amador as Lear.

But Padilla’s all-male casting isn’t just a gimmick (it does have historical precedents, after all). In fact, the three actors playing the daughters – Nor Domingo as Goneril, Gary Lim as Regan and Abner Delima Jr. as Cordelia – are standouts, all giving very strong performances without descending into camp territory.

In fact, there isn’t one false note in the cast, including TV celebrities Jay Gonzaga and Myke Salomon as feuding brothers.

In the title role, Teroy Guzman was able to clearly track Lear’s misfortunes, including a tour de force moment when he is drenched onstage with two showers, as he rants about his current situation.

Guzman, after all, is no stranger to Shakespeare. Before “Haring Lear,” Guzman played the title role in “Screen Macbeth,” a multimedia performance at the University of the Philippines, directed by Anton Juan.

In the end, PETA's “Haring Lear” was able to meld an attractive visual language with the poetic translation of Lumbrera, brought to life by a very focused and determined cast.

This “King Lear” is understandable and enjoyable without compromising its vision.

"Haring Lear" runs every Friday (7 p.m.), Saturday and Sunday (10 a.m. and 3 p.m.) until March 4 at The PETA Theater Center in Quezon City.