CANCELED: 'King Lear'

A king rejects those who care about him, unleashes a storm of ambition and treachery, and descends into madness. This production continues the style of Shakespeare that Counterweight started developing with Julius Caesar and continued with Macbeth: a handful of actors trade roles at the drop of a hat and retell a classic story in a way that’s powerfully intimate, unexpectedly tender, and newly relevant.

At the beginning of each performance, a small ensemble explains the rules: besides Lear, every character can be played by anyone in the ensemble, no actor will play the same character two scenes in a row, roles will be traded, taken, or given at the drop of a hat (sometimes literally), and to ensure that this is a new rotation, the audience will select who plays which part several times throughout the show. Because of this, it is impossible to see the same performance again, and the ephemeral nature of the show creates a sense of danger and creativity in the actors but also in the audience.

Counterweight’s King Lear strips bare Shakespeare’s text as well as the experience of theater itself. You won’t want to miss this.