Choreography by Roger Creel | Original score by Scott Moore | Performed by the Artists of Louisville Ballet
An original production by Roger Creel, King Lear stages Shakespeare’s “dark and comfortless” tragedy of 1608 with a modern family shredded by jealousy, greed, and pride. An egotistical monarch and her sons replace the mythic English king and his daughters.
Production in partnership with the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival. Run time: approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, including one intermission.
FREE ADMISSION: NO TICKETS REQUIRED!
Thank you to our community partners providing pre-show entertainment before performances of King Lear!
Ambo Dance Theatre
Louisville Ballet’s Ballet Bound program
DESTINED Dance Company
Flamenco Louisville
Genesis Arts Senior Enrichment Center
Lou.Co.Lab
Louisville Ballet’s Junior Intensive
*Aug. 7, 9, and 11, ✝ Aug. 8 and 10
King Lear, an aging monarch: Brienne Wiltsie*, Leigh Anne Albrechta✝
Goneril, Lear’s eldest son: Daniel Scofield
Regan, Lear’s middle son: Aleksandr Schroeder
Cornelius, Lear’s youngest son: Khalil Jackson
Kentster, Lear’s housekeeper and confidant: Lexa Daniels
Eunice, Kentster’s oldest daughter: Elizabeth Abbick*, Jordan Noblett✝
Fanny, Kentster’s younger daughter: Amber Wickey
Poor Tom, a good Samaritan: Leigh Anne Albrechta*, Elizabeth Abbick✝
Storm: Adrah Cook, Elizabeth Hines, Shayda Honda, Ava Ownby, Chloe
Puffer, Mackenzie Wandel, Gaven Stevens
Act I
Facing mortality and craving praise, Lear convenes her family, sending her housekeeper, Kentster, to fetch her sons. “Which of you loves me most?” Lear asks. She promises each son property equal to the love he professes.
Lear’s elder sons, Goneril and Regan, falsely swear matchless love, but quiet Cornelius refuses to degrade his affection with flattery. Mistaking reticence for indifference, Lear grows angry and disinherits Cornelius, banishing him from the house, but lets slip that she loves him best.
Fueled by jealousy and greed, the evil brothers scheme with Kentster’s daughter, Eunice, to steal more of their mother’s property. Kentster detects the conspiracy and confronts her daughter. They fight. The brothers intervene, overwhelm Kentster, and tie her to a fence. By the time Fanny, Kentster’s other child, rouses Lear from her reverie, the fight is over.
Expecting kindness from her remaining sons, Lear decides to live with Goneril, who welcomes Lear but refuses to shelter her companion, Fannie. Infuriated, Lear decides to live with Regan instead. Meanwhile, Goneril warns his brother of Lear’s demands. When Regan refuses Lear and Fannie shelter, Lear explodes out of the house in a self-pitying tantrum. She discovers the trussed Kentster, frees her, and stumbles into a wild storm.
Act II
As Kentster searches for her master in the storm, Lear’s madness rages. Lear protects Fannie from the elements. When Kentster finally finds them, the trio retreat towards a lean-to. Out pops a wild woman, Poor Tom. The quartet shelter within.
The storm abates. Lear and party emerge into sunlit joy, not knowing that the evil sons have instructed Eunice to kill Kentster before she can report their wrongdoings to Lear. Though Poor Tom helps Lear escape, Kentster and Fannie are caught. Obeying orders, Eunice kills her sister Fannie and gouges out her mother’s eyes.
Kentster, blind and wretched, tries to kill herself. Poor Tom, passing nearby with Lear, interrupts Kentster’s suicide and bandages her eyes. Lear continues to roam and runs across Cornelius. They joyfully reunite.
The evil brothers return, however, capture Cornelius, and lead him to execution. To celebrate their victory, Goneril toasts Regan — and then poisons his glass. As Regan expires, Poor Tom bursts in, kills Eunice, then stabs Goneril to death. Lear re-enters with Cornelius dead in her arms. Lear dies.