SUMMER SHAKESPEARE THEATRE 2024
Summer Shakespeare Presents KING LEAR July 19-28
SHOW TIMES:
Fri., July 19, at 7 pm - Cast B*
Sat., July 20, at 7 pm - Cast A*
Sun., July 21, at 2 pm - B
Fri., July 26, at 7 pm - A
Sat., July 27, at 7 pm - B
Sun., July 28, at 2 pm - A
*Most roles are double-cast. See full cast list below.
TICKETS are $10, and available at the door one hour before show time. Seating is limited, and all seats are general admission.
Summer Shakespeare Theatre will present one of the Bard’s most powerful tragedies, KING LEAR, July 19 -28 in the Appleton North High School auditorium. This marks the 25th year of the program sponsored by the Fox Valley Summer School Consortium.
A cast and crew made up of students from area high schools have spent six weeks learning about Shakespeare and the theatre of the Renaissance while preparing a play for public performance. Appleton North High School theatre instructor, Ron Parker, began the program in the Fox Valley after founding and directing a similar program in Kenosha for 13 years.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity for students interested in theatre to study and perform the work of the greatest playwright in the English language,” Parker said. “In addition, students from various schools in the area have a chance to meet and work together. Our previous seasons’ productions have been very well received. We look forward to even better things in the future.”
Audiences who attend this summer’s performances of KING LEAR will be treated to elaborate period costumes, impressive scenery and staging, and a variety of Shakespeare’s most complex and memorable characters. In addition, one of the student actors will portray Shakespeare himself and will provide pre-play commentary as well as interact with playgoers during the show. Audiences will be seated directly on the stage to be nearer to the action which was typical of performances in Shakespeare’s era.
Considered by many to be the greatest tragedy ever written, Shakespeare’s KING LEAR dramatizes the story of an aged king of ancient Britain, whose plan to divide his kingdom among his three daughters ends tragically. When he tests each by asking how much she loves him, the older daughters, Goneril and Regan, falsely flatter him. The youngest, Cordelia, does not, choosing instead to speak honestly and without false praise. Lear, in anger, disowns and banishes her.
Though rejected by her father, Cordelia’s true and honest nature wins her the affection of the King of France, whom she marries. Lear divides his kingdom between his other two daughters, Goneril and Regan, who quickly turn on their father, casting him out into a furious storm where he quickly descends into madness.
Meanwhile, the Earl of Gloucester’s illegitimate son Edmund turns Gloucester against his legitimate son, Edgar. Gloucester, appalled at the daughters’ treatment of Lear, gets news that a French army, led by Cordelia, is coming to help Lear. Edmund betrays Gloucester to Regan and her husband, Cornwall, who puts out Gloucester’s eyes and makes Edmund the Earl of Gloucester.
Cordelia and the French army save Lear, but their army is defeated. Edmund imprisons Cordelia and Lear, who regains his sanity and begs her forgiveness. Edgar then mortally wounds Edmund in a trial by combat. Dying, Edmund confesses that he has ordered the deaths of Cordelia and Lear. Word is sent to the prison to release them, but Cordelia is hanged before help arrives. An anguished Lear enters carrying Cordelia’s lifeless body. Overcome by grief and guilt, he quickly follows her in death.
Director Ron Parker states, “KING LEAR is Shakespeare’s darkest, most complex creation. It is a timeless and surprisingly contemporary drama that asks us to examine the nature of our own humanity and inhumanity through the lens of family, frailty, ambition, loyalty, madness, love and loss.”
KING LEAR CAST LIST
Most roles are double-cast. See show times by cast at the top of this article, and the cast A/B list below.
King Lear – Aiden Nettekoven (A), Elias Kosmicki (B)
Goneril – Hannah Williamson (A), Phillip Moran (B)
Regan – Ivy Van Asten (A), Izzy Van Asten (B)
Cordelia – Max Russel
Albany – Leaf Baxter
Cornwall – Fern Fry (A), Gabby Javenkoski (B)
Oswald – River Jessel (A), Amelia Ornstien (B)
Kent – Blake Werner (A), Bennett Boggs (B)
Gloucester – Caleb Lietzan-Beuchel
Edgar – Gabby Javenkoski (A), Fern Fry (B)
Edmund – Isaiah Trelka (A), Max Lietzan-Beuchel (B)
Fool– Max Russel
King of France – Izzy Van Asten (A), Ivy Van Asten (B)
Duke of Burgundy – Sebastian Brown
Shakespeare – Caleb Lietzan-Beuchel
Servant 1 – Amelia Ornstien (A), River Jessel (B)
Servant 2 – Phillip Moran (A), Hannah Williamson (B)
Servant 3 – Izzy Van Asten (A), Ivy Van Asten (B)
Gentleman – Alice Hendrick (A), Evelyn Barker (B)
Messenger – Sebastian Brown
Captain – Sebastian Brown
Lear’s Chorus of Madness A: Elias, Phil, Izzy, Gabby, Amelia, Bennett, Max L-B, Evelyn
Lear’s Chorus of Madness B: Aiden, Hannah, Ivy, Fern, River, Blake, Isaiah, Alice
French/English Soldiers: Bennett, Max L-B (A); Blake, Isaiah (B)