King Lear Revival 2014

Thirty-six years after founding Chicago Shakespeare Theater and paving the way for the Tony Award-winning company to become one of the nation’s leading theaters, Barbara Gaines has announced her plan to step down as Artistic Director in 2023.

Marcell, a Shakespearean best known for an American sitcom, has the title role in the Globe production now touring the U.S.

NYU SKIRBALL CENTER FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS has announced its 2014/2015 season. Continuing its mission to showcase and support diverse and eclectic talent from around the world, all while cultivating audiences for live performance through deeper engagement opportunities, NYU Skirball's eleventh season will feature mainstage productions ranging from classic Shakespeare to cutting-edge circus to a rock & roll light show, hailing from London, Germany, Quebec and everywhere in between.

On Monday, April 21 Shrunken Shakespeare Company held their 2014 Fundraiser Gala at New York's TGB Theatre. The gala featured actor Paul Sorvino's 'Lear' Adaptation. Scroll down to see some photos from the event!

Folger Theatre Artistic Producer Janet Alexander Griffin today announced the 2014/15 season. With six full Shakespeare productions on stage at the Folger to celebrate the Bard's 450th, Folger Theatre will start the upcoming season with two special, limited engagements by London's Shakespeare's Globe. First, the acclaimed staging of Hamlet, seen at the Folger in 2012, returns in late July for just three performances as part of their Globe to Globe Hamlet, the ambitious two-year tour bringing the Danish prince to every country in the world. Then, once again in a September residency, Shakespeare's Globe will perform King Lear for eighteen shows. Joseph Marcell (TV's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Jacques in Folger Theatre's 2007 As You Like It) plays the title role.

It's hard to watch - it really is. David Ryall, now approaching 80, who plays the King who is losing his mind, is a real-life majestic actor who is, post chemotherapy, losing his memory - his reliance on a black book with the text highlighted may be a necessity, but it's a poignant reminder that Shakespeare captured mankind, and not merely a man, in his writing.

Chicago Shakespeare Theater (CST) Artistic Director Barbara Gaines and Executive Director Criss Henderson announced today eight productions of the upcoming 2014/15 Season, which includes four major Shakespearean titles, plus a sequel to Shakespeare's epic tragedy and a world premiere musical based on a classic novel.

The Public Theater announced the line-up today for the 2014 free Shakespeare in the Park season, 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. This summer, free Shakespeare in the Park will feature a comedy and a tragedy with Jack O'Brien directing MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING and Daniel Sullivan directing KING LEAR.

Two-time Olivier Award winner Simon Russell Beale's performance in the title role of William Shakespeare's KING LEAR, directed by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes, will be seen by cinema audiences worldwide whenNATIONAL THEATRE LIVE broadcasts the production live from the National's Olivier Theatre on Thursday, May 1, 2014, with varying dates internationally and encore screenings to follow.

The Daily Mail reports that Kate Fleetwood and Anna Maxwell Martin will play KING LEAR's daughters Goneril and Regan, respectively, in the National Theatre's upcoming production of the Shakespearen tragedy. Olivia Vinall, who is currently appearing in the National's OTHELLO, will portray Cordelia.