The Independent Eye Presents New Take on KING LEAR, 4/10

The Independent Eye presents William Shakespeare's KING LEAR. Lear is the puppeteer of his own puppet show. In his mind, he is the only real human in his motherless kingdom of power and commodity, where love is merchandise for barter, quantifiable by the number of knights under his command. As Lear obsessively plays out his loss of family, power, friendship, shelter, sanity and hope, The Fool, an acid clown who goads Lear in his desperation, stage-manages his story until they both succumb to Lear's madness. Played out within the confines of an aluminum cage, King Lear and The Fool are accompanied by nearly 30 life-sized, hand, and finger puppets operated by actors and master puppeteers Conrad Bishop and Elizabeth Fuller. This stunning two-person take on Shakespeare's KING LEAR puts an ingenious spin on The Bard's tragic tale of king and country.

Based in Sebastopol, CA, The Independent Eye is a 501(c)(3) theater dedicated to the creation of new works and new visions of classics, focusing on puppetry and cross-genre work for touring. Founded by Conrad Bishop and Elizabeth Fuller in 1974, productions have been hosted by New York's CSC Rep, Jean Cocteau Repertory, Theater for the New City, Chicago's Body Politic, Seattle's New City Theatre, Baltimore Theatre Project, and Dell'Arte Players, among others. Additionally, The Independent Eye has produced productions for public radio, including two audio drama series, The Want Adsand Tapdancer; a 13-part documentary, Weavers, for WHYY, Philadelphia; a modular dramatic series, Family Snapshots, heard on more than 90 stations; and 94 episodes of Hitchhiking Off the Map for KPFA, Berkeley, and other California stations. More information can be found at www.independenteye.org.

DATES: Opens: Friday, April 10 (also press opening)

All performances April 10-11, 17-18, 24-25 at 8pm; April 26 at 2pm

WHERE: The Emerald Tablet, 80 Fresno Street, San Francisco

TICKETS: For tickets ($20 students and seniors; $25 general admission) visit brownpapertickets.com/event/1238008; for more information visit independenteye.org/stage.