The International Shakespeare Center Santa Fe Announces 'A Year of Lear'

The International Shakespeare Center Santa Fe, which produced so much programming last year for First Folio! The Book that Gave Us Shakespeare in Santa Fe, has announced a year-long exploration and celebration of Shakespeare's penetrating exposition of politics, family dynamics, and rationality, The Tragedy of King Lear.

"ISC Santa Fe is excited to be producing multiple events for a full year: talks, performances, workshops, and other community events, with local and internationally renowned Shakespeareans," said Caryl Farkas, President of the organization.

A Year of Lear launches in September with two events: Last week, St. Johns College tutor Krishnan Venkatesh gave a talk on "King Lear: No Lives Matter," at the Santa Fe Woman's Club, and next week a performance at Theater Walk Santa Fe on September 16, between 3-6 p.m. by Paul Walsky and Lynn Goodwin who will present a scene between Lear and his daughter Goneril.

Upcoming events already scheduled:

- November 4 2017: A seminar with Robert Benedetti: A Life with Lear • $35

- Lear at the Pub Quiz Night.

- Shakespeare Close Readers: A six-month close read of King Lear that will begin about February 2018 • open to the public, Sunday mornings.

- February 3 2018 • Lear for the Young: Upstart Crows hold a youth workshop for budding Shakespeareans.

- February 6 2018 • Natalie Elliot, tutor at St. John's, talk and discussion on "The Winter's Tale, or the Alternate King Lear."

- February 2018 • King Lear Treasure Hunt downtown.

- March 2018 • Richelle Munkhoff, professor at U.C. Boulder on "Love and Charity in King Lear."

- April 3 2018 • Jocelyn Davis, author of The Greats on Leadership, with a talk on "Lear, Sears, and the 8 Leadership Traps."

- Special restaurant themed evenings with food from King Lear's time: 800 BCE.

- May 1 2018 • Krishnan Venkatesh, tutor at St. John's on performance interpretations of King Lear, viewing and discussing various film versions of Act 1, scene 1.

- The Dresser and Drinks: Film showing of Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay version of The Dresser, plus WW2 bar drinks and discussion.

- Actor workshops on performing in King Lear from the Stratford Shakespeare Festival and the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMD). Free for actors cast in the play.

- Late May 2018 • An evening with James Shapiro, award-winning professor at Columbia University and author of 1606: William Shakespeare and the Year of Lear.

- Late May 2018 • James Shapiro will also give a separate talk on his book, Shakespeare in America.

- July 2018 • Literal Performance of original stories of King Leir as told in Geoffrey of Monmouth's History and in Holinshed's Chronicles • we learn what Shakespeare's sources wrote about this king.

- August 2018 • Staged reading of King Leir (a "comedy" in that no one dies), an Elizabethan play registered in 1594, before Shakespeare's King Lear • we see how a contemporary of Shakespeare's staged the same story.

- September 2018 • Lynn Robson, tutor at Oxford University, awarded "Most Acclaimed Lecturer in the Humanities" at Oxford, presents a seminar that compares and contrasts King Lear and As You Like It.

- September 2018 Performance: The Tragedy of King Lear with actors who have immersed themselves in the text for a full year.

The ISC is committed to sharing Shakespeare through education, performance, and community. We thank those members and supporters whose work makes these programs possible. We are seeking underwriting for this year-long event and encourage those interested in supporting the events to join us in contributing to their production.

The International Shakespeare Center is a New Mexico non-profit and a federal 501(c)3 organization. Visit the International Shakespeare Center at www.InternationalShakespeare.center.

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