If you're a theater goer, you've likely seen a production of Shakespeare's King Lear. Maybe you've seen it three times or six or a dozen. Even if you have, a new production starring the 82-year-old Glenda Jackson brings something distinct. There's no wild beard or fists shaking at heaven here; instead, Jackson — who plays a male Lear — is a sharp, sarcastic political leader who cracks jokes and wears a cloak of power so authoritative that we never forget she's king, even though she's the smallest person on the stage. No question, this is Jackson's play. When she is in the room, she is the center of everything. 

Unfortunately, director Sam Gold's bland production falls short of her brilliance. That doesn't mean there aren't interesting interpretations in the show. For much of the first act, this Lear feels like a domestic drama about three overwhelmed sisters trying to manage their slightly-dotty father, shuttling him from house to house as each one tries to take on the burden of his care. It all feels accessible, if less mythic than the King Lear's we are used to. Later on, when the king descends into madness, Jackson is almost Ophelia-like, traipsing through the woods wearing a crown of flowers. And yet, the freshness of her performance isn't because she's female. She's just an incredible actor. There's additional joy in the performance of Jayne Houdyshell, who as the (male) Earl of Gloucester, is bumbling in his grief after he, too, is betrayed by one of his children. All these things helped me see new facets of the play. 

Perhaps most importantly, the diversity in the cast is spectacular to see on stage. Not only are the characters different races and women play lead roles, but the Duke of Cornwall is played by deaf actor Russell Harvard — along with his interpreter Michael Arden, who is worked smoothly into the production as his aide.

The rest of Gold's production, however, just feels muddled. The stage is a shiny gold box with the actors wearing modern dress. Both are fine choices — and certainly a play about how power can be blinding is appropriate for any age, particularly this one But it actually doesn't appear that Gold wants to comment on current life, until the Fool (a darkly bitter Ruth Wilson) shows off a pair of stars-and-stripes socks while talking about corruption. Yet Gold's perceptive, brainy king is so far from the current American leader that it's unclear what the director is trying to say.

There are other important issues. An on-stage string quartet playing a new score by Philip Glass is so loud it often overwhelms the dialogue. And the production can even be distractedly funny, which could be a good thing, but here often infects tragic moments. When a minor character died, for example, the audience laughed. 

Yet in the end, Lear is really about, well, Lear. And Jackson is so radiant with mischievous power, it makes the experience luminous.

King Lear is directed by Sam Gold and at Cort Theatre for an open run.