How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child

An acting troup put on Shakespeare's King Lear in the local park tonight. I have to admire them for even attempting this play--probably Will's finest. Just learning the lines is hard enough, let alone acting it out. I should know: I played the character Edgar in a scene for acting class in college. Only about 20 people were watching tonight, and I'm not sure how many even knew what they were seeing (or hearing), but it was a worthy performance under difficult circumstances, complete with periodic sirens, noisy teenagers and boom-box music for accompaniment.