King Lear

"If a man who thinks he is a king is mad, a king who thinks he is a king is no less so."  

-Jacques Lacan

Karin Coonrod's King Lear strips down the Shakespearian classic to its essence through a vigorous exploration of the text and characters’ psyches and motivations. The play emerges from the vast silence into a whirlwind and returns to the silence with the audience. An ensemble of ten actors ranging widely in age, gender and ethnic backgrounds, all embody Lear at the beginning. One by one, they strip off their paper crowns and transform into other characters in the play. The performers conduct a take over of the text and the theatre space. Spreading across the treacherous psychic cartography of the play, they dig deep into the internal and external voyage of a mighty king who loses himself then finds himself again when he is forced to face NOTHING. It is a journey from blindness into seeing.  A king learns to be a man.

International Festival of Arts&Ideas in New Haven, CT (June 2024)
La Mama Experimental Theatre, New York  (July 2024)

cast

Brandon Burton (Lear, Edgar)
Abigail Killeen (Lear, Goneril)
Elijahh Martinez (Lear, Edmund)
Jo Mei  (Lear, Regan)
Tom Nelis (Lear, France)
Lukas Papenfusscline (Lear, Fool)
Michael Potts (Lear, GLoucester)
Paul Pryce (Lear, Kent)
Celeste Sena (Lear, Cordelia)
Tony Torn (Lear, Oswald)
Paul Wellington (Black ANgel)
Peter Gomez (Black Angel)
Ariel Mayer (Black Angel)
Luca Evans (Black Angel)

Creative Team

Karin Coonrod (Adaptor, Director)
Frank London (Composer)
Oana Botez (Costume Designer)
Tye Hunt Fitzgerald (Sound Design)
Charles T. Meier (Scenic Designer)
Stephen Strawbridge (Lighting Designer)
Jacob Basri (Assistant Director)
Caleb Krieg (Assistant Costume Designer)
Tine Kinderman (Paper Crowns)
Krista Smith (Assistant Lighting Designer)
Jennifer Stanjeski (Costume painting)
Gib Gibney (Lighting Programmer, Board Op)
Gabrielle Hpyt (Dramaturg)
Michael Rossmy (Fight DIrector)
Brandon Burton (FIght Captain)
Kino ALvarez (DIrector of Production)
Rebecca Werner (Stage Manager)
Assistant Stage Manager (Kate Semmens)