King Lear

Synopsis

The Folger Theatre and The Classical Theatre of Harlem’s 2006 co-production of King Lear directed for stage by Alfred Preisser and videotaped for WAPAVA by George Karseboom. André de Shields is Lear. The majority of the cast is black.

Language

English

Country

United States

Medium

Video

Technical information

Colour / Sound

Duration

138 mins

Credits

Director

Alfred Preisser

Writer

William Shakespeare

Production Design

Troy Hourie

Costume

Kimberley Glennon

Contributor

George Karseboom

Cast

André De Shields	Lear
Christina Sajous	Cordelia
Harold Surratt	Earl of Gloucester
Ken Schatz	Fool
Danyon Davis	Edgar, later disguised as Tom o’Bedlam
Chantal Jean-Pierre	Goneril
Deidra Lewan Starnes	Regan
Francis Mateo	Doctor
Francis Mateo	Duke of Cornwall
Ian Lockhart	King of France
Jerome Preston Bates	Earl of Kent
Todd Scofield	Duke of Albany
Ty Jones	Edmund
Zuanna Sherman	Oswald

Additional Details

Theatre

Elizabethan Theatre, Folger Shakespeare Library

Theatre company

Folger Theatre

Production type

Stage Recordings

Plays

King Lear

Subjects

Drama

Keywords

Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Black actors; Colourblind casting

Notes

History

At the Harlem School of the Arts Theatre, New York, NY, 29 September-5 November 2006; and at the Folger Theatre, 11 January-18 February 2007.

Reviews

Isherwood, Charles. The New York Times (7 October 2006, p. A20). Isherwood notes on the pace of the production - ‘The good, the bad and the simply unfortunate have expired almost before we’ve come to know them in this brisk but generally unmoving production’.

Archive

Name

Washington Area Performing Arts Video Archive (WAPAVA)

Email

leahkim@umd.edu

Web

http://www.wapava.org External site opens in new window

Phone

(301) 405 9117

Address

James J. Taylor Collection
Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library
University of Maryland
College Park, Maryland 20742-1630