KING LEAR, Starring John Lithgow and Annette Bening, Opens Tonight at the Delacorte

The Public Theater presents King Lear, the second show of The Public's free Shakespeare in the Park season at the Delacorte. Featuring John Lithgow as Lear, this enduring tragedy will run through Sunday, August 17, with an official press opening tonight, August 5.

The complete cast of King Lear features Annette Bening (Goneril); Jeremy Bobb (Oswald); Steven Boyer (Fool); Jessica Collins (Cordelia); Glenn Fleshler (Cornwall); Jessica Hecht (Regan); Slate Holmgren (King of France); Christopher Innvar (Albany); Chukwudi Iwuji (Edgar); John Lithgow (Lear); Clarke Peters (Gloucester); Dale Place (Old Man, Curan); Jay O. Sanders (Kent); and Eric Sheffer Stevens (Edmund). The non-equity ensemble includes Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Andrew Burnap, Christopher Ghaffari, Ryan-James Hatanaka, Matt Helm, Dave Klasko, and Phillip Shinn.

Revenge, rage, grief and delusion thunder upon the Delacorte as Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan directs Shakespeare's classic drama about a King who loses everything-including his mind-when he disowns his favorite daughter, and finds himself betrayed in return. King Lear has not been seen at Shakespeare in the Park since 1973.

KING LEAR features scenic design by John Lee Beatty, costume design by Susan Hilferty, lighting design by Jeff Croiter, sound design by ACME Sound Partners, and original music by Dan Moses Schreier.

The Public's free Shakespeare in the Park is continuing a 52-year tradition of free theater in Central Park. Since 1962, over five million people have enjoyed more than 150 free productions of Shakespeare and other classical works and musicals at the Delacorte Theater. Conceived by founder Joe Papp as a way to make great theater accessible to all, The Public's free Shakespeare in the Park continues to be the bedrock of the Company's mission to increase access and engage the community.

Photo Credit: Joan Marcus