The Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company Presents KING LEAR

The Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company (Tom Oppenheim, Artistic Director) has announced a limited engagement of William Shakespeare's King Lear. Under the direction of Nike Doukas, the production will feature H. Richard Greene in the title role, Mark Bramhall as Gloucester, Stephen Caffrey as Kent, and David Sussman as The Fool. Opening is set for Thursday, July 18, at 8pm.

The ensemble will include (in alphabetical order) Valerie Lynn Brett, Kristin Couture, Christopher Dietrich, Kyle T. Hester, Michael Thor Kuzmack, Anthony Malone, Jenn O'Brien, Bernardo Pacheco, Chris Ramirez, Jesse Steccato, and Jeffrey Treadway. Set design is by Johnny Patrick Yoder, lighting design is by Raymond Jones, and costume design is by Julie Keen. The production manager/prop designer is Fadhia C. Marcelin.

How do we respond and who do we become when we are tested by enormous change? King Lear is facing the end of his reign, his third and favorite daughter is leaving him for marriage, and his closest advisers are challenging his decisions. In this brutal, profound, and mythic play, plots are devised, parents are pitted against children, and disguise becomes a means of forestalling ruin. King Lear contains some of Shakespeare's most beautiful and compelling language, exploring what it means to be human, what it means to love, and how we learn to become better, loving beings.

H. Richard Greene (King Lear) received critical acclaim for his New York debut as MacDuff in Macbeth. He was a resident member of the Repertory Theatre of Lincoln Center, appearing there in Mary Stuart, Twelfth Night, Narrow Road to the Deep North, Play Strindberg, and The Crucible. Other Broadway credits include The Survivor and Romeo and Juliet. Additional stage work includes the international tour of Brighton Beach Memoirs, Richard III at the New York Shakespeare Festival and tours of On Golden Pond and Lunch Hour. He originated the role of Bobby Stein in the Off-Broadway hit Family Business and reprised the part for American Playhouse on PBS. Regional credits include Timon of Athens (Yale Repertory), The Taming of the Shrew (Washington Shakespeare Festival), Death of a Salesman (Studio Arena), and Cyrano de Bergerac (Williamstown). Recent West Coast credits include The History Boys (Ahmanson Theatre), The Price (ICT), Dance of Death (LATC), and King Lear, The Merchant of Venice, and The Two Gentlemen of Verona (Old Globe). Recent television appearances include Mad Men, The Mentalist, Cold Case, NCIS, and Boston Legal.

Nike Doukas (Director) combines her professional life as an actress and director with a commitment to teaching. Teaching credits include work at AOA, Berg Studios, The Anteaus Company, and A Noise Within. With Mark Rucker she co-directed All's Well That Ends Well at USC. As an actress, she is a regular at South Coast Rep where she has appeared in 25 productions. Other regional credits include Pittsburgh Irish and Classical Theatre Company, Old Globe, Pasadena Playhouse, Mark Taper Forum, A Contemporary Theatre, Berkeley Rep, American Conservatory Theatre, Shakespeare Festival LA, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, and Berkeley Shakespeare Festival. TV credits include Shark, Numbers, Without a Trace, Criminal Minds, Boston Legal, Malcolm in the Middle, Caroline in the City, Desperate Housewives, and Almost Perfect. Her 2018 production of The Hothouse at The Antaeus Company received 10 Ovation Award nominations.

The Harold Clurman Laboratory Theater Company is the Stella Adler Studio of Acting/Art of Acting Studio professional theater company. The Lab aims to produce socially relevant theater committed to the standards and ideals set out by Stella Adler, Harold Clurman, and the Group Theater. The mission of the Lab is to provide the community, through theater and discussion, with a place of exploration and experimentation of what it means to be a human being. HCL production history includes The Turn of the Screw (Ovation Recommended), Rocket to the Moon, Talking to Terrorists, Mercy Killers by Michael Milligan (Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2013, Fringe First Award), Lebensraum by Israel Horovitz (off-Broadway, Ovation Award-nominated in LA), Long Way Go Down by Zayd Dohrn (West Coast premiere, Ovation Award nominee), and Our Town by Thornton Wilder. In New York, HCL recently presented Beto O'Byrne's Loving and Loving.

King Lear will run Thursday, July 18 thru Saturday, August 3, at 8pm (no performances on July 21, 22, 23, 28, and 29). Tickets are $20 in advance and may be purchased online at www.ovationtix.com or by phone at (323) 601-5310. All seats are Pay What You Can 30 minutes prior to curtain. The Harold Clurman Laboratory Theatre is located at the Art of Acting Studio, 1017 N. Orange Drive in Hollywood, 90038.

 

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