Joe Morton Stars in the Wallis Center's Radical Reinvention of Shakespeare's KING LEAR

The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts presents a radical reinvention of Shakespeare's KING LEAR, starring Emmy Award and NAACP Image Award winner Joe Morton (ABC's "Scandal," the legendary Brother from Another Planet, Netflix's "The Politician," Justice League) and directed by John Gould Rubin, opening Saturday, May 14 and running through Sunday, June 5, 2022, with previews May 10 through 13, in The Wallis' Bram Goldsmith Theater. This theatrically adventurous production of perhaps the greatest play in English literature features original music, videos, and projections that will transform the theater into a not-too-distant-future United States ravaged by environmental catastrophes.

Joining Morton in the cast are Mark Harelik (The Normal Heart on Broadway, Trumbo, "The Morning Show," "Star Trek Voyager") as Gloucester; River Gallo (GLAAD Media Rising Star Award, PONYBOI) as Cordelia and Fool; Zach Solomon ("Better Things") as Edgar and King of France; Brie Eley ("9-1-1," "The Goldbergs," "Saved by the Bell") as Regan; Emily Swallow ("The Mandalorian," "The Mentalist") as Goneril; Rafael Jordan ("Law & Order SVU," "Blue Bloods," "One Life to Live") as Edmund; Miguel Perez ("9-1-1," "The Goldbergs," "Saved by the Bell") as understudy for Lear and Gloucester; Stanley Jackson (And In This Corner: Cassius Clay ) as understudy for Edgar/King of France and Edmund; and Danielle Thorpe ("Star Trek: Picard," "Power") as understudy for Cordelia/Fool, Regan, and Goneril.

Morton, following his award-winning, sold-out performance as Dick Gregory in Turn Me Loose, returns to The Wallis in the title role of Shakespeare's tragedy as a man who has brought his country through turmoil, but at what cost? Forced to grapple with violent power struggles and a dysfunctional family, Lear wrestles with the betrayal of his two older daughters who, have banished him to the wilderness, and his own betrayal of his youngest daughter, exiled for the sin of honesty. Turbulence and fury combine to turn a skilled geopolitical master into a dazed, naked wanderer, exposed to the elements.

Of this timeless tale of truth, love, and power, with a glimpse of redemption, director Rubin says, "By immersing the audience in a future of looming environmental apocalypse, where identity is fluid, and salvation can only be found through self-knowledge, our King Lear confronts us with a looming apocalypse which is the America - indeed the world - we must strive to avoid."

Audience members are encouraged to wear light-colored clothing for each performance to enhance the production design which will be projected throughout the entire auditorium.

Paul Crewes, the Wallis' former Artistic Director is Creative Producer. Dramaturgical Consultant is Morgan Jenness, known for work at The Public Theater under both George C. Wolfe and Joseph Papp in roles ranging from literary manager to Director of Play Development to Associate Producer of the New York Shakespeare Festival. The production team, comprised of an extraordinary range of creative artists, includes Ursula Kwong-Brown and Danny Erdberg as Composers/Sound Designers, both with international credits and making their debuts at The Wallis. Broadway, national, and international award-winning Steven Strawbridge is Lighting Designer and Tony Award-winner Chris Barreca is Scenic Designer. X Hill, known for her surrealistic and experimental designs and her work at REDCAT, is Costume Designer. Los Angeles-based media artist and video designer Keith Skretch is Projection Designer. CSA six-time Artios Award-winner Amy Lieberman is Casting Director; The Wallis' Programming Manager, Camille Jenkins, is Assistant Director; and Taiwanese set and production designer Chun-Wei Wang is Assistant Scenic Designer. Shawna Voragen is Assistant Stage Manager.

"John Gould Rubin, Paul Crewes, and I, formed a very powerful and successful collaboration around Turn Me Loose, during which, we began discussing King Lear as a play that throws into stark relief two very highly dysfunctional families, a world in which mankind inexorably effects nature, where old age is vulnerable to cruelty, and the imperceptive conflict between fatherhood and royalty is an incompatibility that becomes a tempest of madness and desolation," says Morton. "John, Paul, and I are full of expectation, excitement, and energy as we begin this next chapter of our partnership."

This production was made possible by generous support from Michael and Meeghan Nemeroff/Vedder Price.

Ticket prices are $39-$125 per person. The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills. To purchase tickets and for more information, please call 310-746-4000 (Monday - Friday, 10 am to 6 pm) or visit TheWallis.org/lear.

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