KING LEAR Extends at Stratford Festival Through 10/25

Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino's King Lear, starring Colm Feore, is entering the record books as one of the Festival's top-selling Shakespeare productions of all time. To meet the overwhelming demand for tickets, the production is being extended until October 25.

"Antoni Cimolino's King Lear, starring the incomparable Colm Feore, with masterful performances by our Stratford company, is one of the great productions in our 62-year history," says Executive Director Anita Gaffney. "Like Christopher Plummer's Prospero in 2010 and William Hutt's farewell performance in the same role in 2005, Colm's Lear has seized the imaginations of theatregoers, inspiring tremendous sales.

"This is the second and final extension for King Lear, the runaway hit of the season, which is helping to fuel a 25% increase in sales to Shakespeare productions."

In the Toronto Star's 4-star review, Richard Ouzounian declares that the production "unquestionably catapults Colm Feore into the ranks of the world's greatest living actors." Mr. Ouzounian adds: "If you have been longing to encounter greatness in the theatre, it's waiting for you at the Stratford Festival."

Mr. Feore receives high praise from The New York Times' Charles Isherwood, who speaks of his "intense pathos" and "affecting clarity." Mr. Isherwood states that Mr. Feore's performance in the play's final moments is "as harrowing as any I've seen."

Similarly, The Globe and Mail's J. Kelly Nestruck speaks of Mr. Feore's "very fallible and fleshy Lear," saying, "He is every centimetre a man."

The Chicago Tribune's Chris Jones was especially moved by Mr. Cimolino's "rigorously human take" in what he describes as a "deeply compassionate production."

Tickets for the following newly added performances go on sale to Members on Thursday, August 21, and to the general public on Friday, August 22:

· Tuesday, October 21, at 2 p.m.

· Thursday, October 23, at 2 p.m.

· Friday, October 24, at 8 p.m.

· Saturday, October 25, at 8 p.m.

In addition to Mr. Feore, the production features Maev Beaty as Goneril, Evan Buliung as Edgar, Sara Farb as Cordelia, Jonathan Goad as the Earl of Kent, Brad Hodder as Edmund, Stephen Ouimette as the Fool, Liisa Repo-Martell as Regan and Scott Wentworth as the Earl of Gloucester.

King Lear runs until October 25. For tickets, contact the box office at 1.800.567.1600 or visit stratfordfestival.ca.

King Lear is sponsored by Sun Life Financial. Production support is generously provided by Jane Petersen-Burfield & family, Cecil & Linda Rorabeck, Barbara & John Schubert and Catherine & David Wilkes.

Support for the 2014 season of the Festival Theatre is generously provided by Claire & Daniel Bernstein.

The 2014 season runs until October 25, featuring King Lear; Crazy for You; two versions of A Midsummer Night's Dream; The Beaux' Stratagem; Man of La Mancha; Alice Through the Looking-Glass; Hay Fever; King John; Mother Courage and Her Children; Antony and Cleopatra; Christina, The Girl King; and more than 200 events in The Forum.

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