American Theatre of Actors Will Present KING LEAR Beginning Next Week

American Theatre of Actors will present what is considered by some to be Shaksepeare's masterpiece: King Lear. Performances run August 14 - 25 ( 7:00 PM (Wednesday through Saturday), 3:00 PM (Sunday) on the John Cullum Stage of the American Theatre of Actors. Purchase here.

Directed by James Jennings himself, the production features Alan Hasnas (as KING LEAR) with Jonathan Beebe, Travis Bergmann, Amber Brookes, Jane Culley, Oliver Figueroa, Richard Fisher, Sam Cruz, Sam Hardy, and Jake Minter.

Lear, King of Britain, enters with his court, now an old man, decided to divide his kingdom between his three daughters. The criteria: how convinciningly they can express their love. Goneril, Duchess of Albany, and Regan, Duchess of Cornwall, both speak enthusiastically, but - ironically - Cordelia, the youngest, says nothing because she cannot voice her deep love for her father. Misunderstanding her, Lear disowns and banishes her from the kingdom. He also banishes the Earl of Kent, who had taken Cordelia's side against the King.

Needless to say, his eldest daughters both reject him at their homes, thus, madness and regret overtake him and he wanders through a storm. His banished daughter returns with an army, but they lose the battle and prompting the inevitable shakespearean fate.

At its core, Lear is a family drama offering condemnation for greed.

In this family drama, greed is a driving force and remorse comes too late.

To learn more about the cast, please visit this link.

AMERICAN THEATRE OF ACTORS

The ATA was founded in 1976 by James Jennings to promote the development of new playwrights, directors, and actors, and to provide them a creative atmosphere in which to work. The plays are dramas, comedies, musicals, and everything in between, dealing with the social and ethical problems of contemporary society.

More than 12,000 actors worked at the ATA including Dennis Quaid, Bruce Willis, Dan Lauria, Chazz Palminteri, Danny Aielo, David Morse, Edie Falco and Kathryn Hahn. ATA's productions are sometimes grouped as 'festivals,' such as a Playwrights or Directors Festival. In 2016, ATA began an initiative to feature women in theater as directors and playwrights, today this is our WIT! (Women in Theatre) program.

To post a comment, you must register and login.