On Broadway: Christopher Plummer rules over weak supporting cast

Why is it so difficult to tell our parents we love them? Only when my mother was dying could I say those words. My father had to wait until I was angry before he'd get my proclamation: ''It's because I love you that I want you to see the doctor!'' I would scold.

The beautiful, young Cordelia could do no better than I when her father, King Lear, asked for confirmation of her love. The best she could come up with was that she loved him ''according to my bond, no more nor less.'' When Lear persists, Cordelia says, ''I cannot heave my heart into my mouth.''

Why does she resist so? Is she afraid her love won't measure up? Goneril says her love is ''dearer than eyesight,'' and Regan claims Goneril's love comes up short compared to her own. Does Cordelia's youth prevent her from generously humoring the old man? Does she not understand how old age ravages a man's mind and spirit?

Realizing in horror

But Shakespeare understands. He makes it embarrassing to watch this exchange between a father and his daughters, trading land for love, and agonizing to watch the tragic ending as Lear, in a lucid moment, realizes the catastrophe he caused.

As I watched this production of ''King Lear,'' transplanted from the Stratford, Ontario's Shakespeare Festival, these were the thoughts that kept coming to mind. Would that Shakespeare had kept to the exploration of these issues and not complicated things with the story of the Duke of Gloucester and his sons.

The subplot of ''Lear,'' in which Gloucester's bastard son, Edmund, through trickery and treachery, tries to wrest his father's lands from the legitimate son, Edgar, is an annoying distraction. Though the relationships parallel those of Lear and his daughters, it still keeps getting in the way of the story that touches us much more personally.

However, political pressures often influenced what Shakespeare wrote, so I'll give him some slack here.

What really bothers me about ''Lear'' is that the story strains credulity -- I've never been able to buy the initial premise.

Despite Lear's dotage, it seems incredible that he doesn't see the obvious phoniness of his two older daughters.

Writer and cartoonist, Jules Feiffer, makes a similar observation. ''I have no sympathy for the guy,'' he says. ... ''You have to be really nuts to buy into those two women. They were never any good.''

I agree. Such awful behavior doesn't just happen. Regan and Goneril were corrupt from toddlerhood. Lear saw his daughters grow up -- surely he knew that Cordelia loved him.

Surely he could see that Goneril was merciless and Regan a psychopath. A person knows when he or she is loved, without the words -- even a foolish old man.

This credibility problem is compounded by the silly costuming of Regan and Goneril, making them look like Cinderella's wicked stepsisters in fright wigs, while Cordelia is in delicate aqua silk, her blonde hair natural and sweet.

The talented British actor and director, Jonathan Miller, must have been having a senior moment here when he approved this tonsorial travesty, and then slipped out for a nap while the cast played on.

Adds some touches

Christopher Plummer, who plays Lear, is brilliant and adds many poignant touches of his own, as when he calls on the Duke of Burgundy to marry Cordelia, but fumbles for the man's name.

Unfortunately, he's pretty much working alone on stage, because the rest of the players just walk through their paces.

The Canadian actors underplay their roles to the point where their characters seem to blend into one another, including the important Kent and Gloucester.

Only Geraint Wyn Davies, as the evil Edmund, keeps our attention -- the tall, handsome actor is made of leading-man stuff.

These criticisms aside, see ''King Lear'' to see Plummer as he heightens our sensitivity to the sadness of old age. If you love this play, add a star. See it before it closes on April 18.

And tell your parents you love them.

ON BROADWAY

KING LEAR

*** 1/2 (Good-to-very good)

Where: The Vivian Beaumont, 150 W. 65 St., at Lincoln Center, to the right of the Metropolitan Opera House.
Running Time: 3 hours, 25 minutes, with one intermission.

With: Christopher Plummer as King Lear; Domini Blythe as Goneril; Lucy Peacock as Regan; Claire Jullien as Cordelia; Benedict Campbell as Kent; Geraint Wyn Davies as Edmund; Brent Carver as Edgar; James Bendick as Gloucester.