by William Shakespeare
July 23-August 2, 2009

“The Tragedy of King Lear is insanely good! The decorated Park Slope troupe pours its heart out on stage, wringing wonderful performances from the cast. Dominic Cuskern portrays Lear with appropriate levels of mania, chastened entitlement and regret. King Lear has extended periods of brilliance.”
-Mike McLaughlin, The Brooklyn Paper

Producing Directors: Sidney Fortner and Dominic Cuskern for the Gallery Players
Production Stage Manager: Kristine Ayers
Set and Costume Designer: Sidney Fortner
Lighting Designer: Emily McGillicuddy
Fight Choreographer: Robert Najarian

The Cast

Albany – Kevin Blackwelder
Kent – John Blaylock*
Curan – Jonah Ramu Cohen
Lear – Dominic Cuskern*
Oswald – Andrew Danish
King of France, Captain, Soldier – Adam Ewer
Fool, Doctor – Andrew Firda*
Goneril – Suzy Kimball
Gentleman 1 – Mark Kinch
Gloucester – Elliott Mayer*
Edgar – Brandon Mears
Herald, Servant 2 – Peter Oliver
Cornwall – Ross Pivec
Regan – Molly Pope
Burgundy, Gentleman 2, Servant 2 – Jerrod Kazumi Popham
Cordelia – Jessica Rothenberg
Edmun – Montgomery Sutton*

*Appearing courtesy of AEA

King Lear (Dominic Cuskern) is amused by his Fool (Andrew Firda) in The Gallery Players’ production of The Tragedy of King Lear. Photo by Joshua Luria.

Players Shakespeare, The Gallery Players’ newly-created Summer Shakespeare Festival, presents Shakespeare’s classic tale of a king’s descent into madness. Dominic Cuskern, a Gallery Players veteran and long-time member of the Pearl Theatre Company’s Resident Acting company, stars as Lear.

Read the nytheatre.com cyber interview with Dominic Cuskern.

King Lear is believed by many to be Shakespeare’s masterpiece. Written as a political and social commentary on post-Elizabethan England, King Lear demonstrates what results when individuals let vanity and greed lead them to trespass the bounds of order and proportion, ignoring their natural responsibility to family, community and country. The chaotic consequences: leaders renounce duty; fathers disown children; children displace fathers; war, homicide, fratricide, suicide, and madness. We join Lear and his counterpart, Gloucester, as they are stripped of position, power, family, and sanity – and in the process, through the unwavering devotion of Kent and the Fool, the filial loves of Edgar and Cordelia – discovering their humanity and what it means to forgive and be forgiven. Lear becomes the antithesis of his former arrogant self; he achieves a life without “lendings” – the accumulated material possessions we cling to for meaning – or the need of them.

NOTE: This show is an addendum to the regular season and is not part of our subscription packages.

Lear (Dominic Cuskern) mourns his youngest daughter, Cordelia (Jessica Rothenberg) in The Gallery Players’ production of The Tragedy of King Lear. Photo by Joshua Luria.

Performance Schedule
Thursday, July 23rd at 8pm
Friday, July 24th at 8pm
Saturday, July 25th at 2pm – matinee
Saturday, July 25th at 8pm
Sunday, July 26th at 3pm – matinee
Monday, July 27th at 7:30pm (Pay What You Can – cash at the door only)
Wednesday, July 29th at 8pm
Thursday, July 30th at 8pm
Friday, July 31st at 8pm
Saturday, August 1st at 2pm – matinee
Saturday, August 1st at 8pm
Sunday, August 2nd at 3pm – matinee, final performance