Gamut Theatre to Stage Shakespeare's KING LEAR in February 2026

Gamut Theatre Group will present KING LEAR by William Shakespeare, directed by Thomas Weaver, March 7–29 in Harrisburg. Gamut Theatre is the combined company of Popcorn Hat Players Children’s Theatre and Harrisburg Shakespeare Company.

Clark Nicholson, Artistic Director and Co-Founder of Gamut Theatre, will take on the title role. The production marks the company’s return to Shakespeare on its Select Medical Mainstage after an eight-year hiatus.

In this tragedy of madness, loyalty, and betrayal, the aging King Lear divides his kingdom among his three daughters, setting in motion a devastating chain of events. As family bonds unravel and power shifts, the play explores pride, suffering, forgiveness, and the fragility of identity.

The cast includes Jeff Wasileski as Gloucester, Rachel Landon as Goneril, and Robert Campbell as Cornwall, with Karen Ruch serving as props designer. The production features a mix of veteran Harrisburg Shakespeare Company performers and new talent.

Director Thomas Weaver sets the production in a Celtic, Iron-Age Britannia, incorporating ancient Druidic practices as a thematic backbone. “A great deal of my inspiration came from one of my favorite genres of film – Folk Horror!” Weaver said. “It's made for some creepy and beautiful moments!”

Elizabeth Hood serves as Fight Director, staging combat sequences that emphasize the brutality of the story’s descent into chaos.

Beyond spectacle, the production leans into the existential questions at the heart of the play, including Lear’s plea: “Who is it that can tell me who I am?” The staging invites audiences to consider identity, loss, and what remains when everything familiar is stripped away.