Review: KING LEAR at OrangeMite Shakespeare Company

Eighteen years ago, the OrangeMite Shakespeare Company began a journey to bring every one of Shakespeare’s plays to the stage.  They have reached the 39th and final play with Shakespeare’s epic tragedy, King Lear.   OrangeMite’s King Lear is onstage January 17th, 18th, and 26th at the Appell Center for the Performing Arts under the direction of William Wolfgang.

King Lear was written by Shakespeare sometime around 1605 and premiered onstage in 1606.  In this tragedy, King Lear suffers the consequence of testing his daughters’s love and choosing flattery over honesty.  William Wolfgang’s portrayal of King Lear was engaging and at times comedic.  He was filled with pride and narcissism and eventually you see his insanity and humanity as he discovered the error of the ways.  Another standout performance was Andrew Texter’s portray, Edgar who is betrayed by his brother.  This role required such a transformation from innocence to beggar to redeemed authority figure.

The cast of King Lear includes Sofia DeMercurio (Cordelia), Scott Fraser (Gloucester), Meg Garbrick (Gongeril), Jess Haag (Regan), Bishop Hunt (Albany), Bill Jones (King Lear), Rebecca Lease (Lear’s Fool), Hope Lowry (Knight), Dodge Menard (Musician), Nash Menard (Oswald), Huy Nguyen (Kent), Ángel Nuñez (France), Phil Rearich (Knight), Ryan Szwaja (Edmund), Andrew Texter (Edgar), Irene Winters (Cornwall), and William Wolfgang (King Lear Understudy).