Photo Flash: First Look at Joseph Marcell & More in Folger Theatre's KING LEAR

Folger Theatre continues its relationship with Shakespeare's Globe in London with the touring production of KING LEAR, continuing in D.C. for a limited engagement through September 21. Directed by Bill Buckhurst, the acclaimed production has toured for months in the UK, Europe, and Asia. The Folger will be its debut here in the States. Check out a first look at the production below!

Renowned classical actor Joseph Marcell leads a cast of eight, playing the title role. Marcell, born in St. Lucia and for many years a Londoner, is well known in this country for his role as Geoffrey on TV's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, which ran for six seasons on NBC. His previous work with Shakespeare's Globe includes Coriolanus (2006), Under the Black Flag (2006) and Much Ado About Nothing (2011). Earlier this year, Marcell was the lead actor in Derek Walcott's Omeros for the inaugural season of the Globe's candlelit Sam Wanamaker Playhouse. Also no stranger to Washington, DC, Marcell appeared as Jaques in Folger Theatre's 2007 staging of Shakespeare's As You Like It. That same year, he starred in August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean at Arena Stage. As a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Marcell has appeared in productions of Othello and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Alongside Marcell, who is starring in his fifth production for Shakespeare's Globe, the cast includes Gwendolyn Chatfield (Goneril, Curan), Bethan Cullinane (Cordelia, Fool), Alex Mugnaioni (Edgar, Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Burgundy), Bill Nash (Earl of Kent), Daniel Pirrie (Edmund, Oswald, King of France), Shanaya Rafaat (Regan), andJohn Stahl (Duke of Gloucester, Duke of Albany, Doctor).

This production of King Lear continues the ongoing collaboration between Shakespeare's Globe and the Folger which began in 2012. Most recently, the Globe's 2-year worldwide touring production of Hamlet graced the Folger stage in July 2014. In March 2015, Folger Consort, the early music ensemble in residence, will bring its musical and theatrical adaptation of The Merchant of Venice, featuring Sir Derek Jacobi, Richard Clifford, and the Gabrieli Consort, to London for two performances at The Globe's new candlelit indoor theater, the Wanamaker Playhouse.

King Lear plays at Folger Theatre for 18 performances only; performances began September 5 and run through September 21, 2014. Tickets are $50 - $85 and are now on sale. Lower-priced tickets for partial view seating and standing room also available. Discounts for students, seniors, military, educators, and groups of ten or more may be purchased at the Folger Theatre Box Office at 202.544.7077 or online at www.folger.edu/theatre.

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