Tackling the King

It is with tremendous joy that I get to announce that I will be playing the title role in What Dreams May Co's production of King Lear this winter.

The production is a little ways off, so it still feels a bit surreal to me that I have been honored with the opportunity to play such an iconic role, but seven months hardly feels like enough time to wrap my mind around the deterioration of his, so I'm digging in already. I've read the script before, and more often than not, use one of Regan's monologues as an audition piece, so I am familiar with the script. But one of the lovely things about doing Shakespeare, and about playing different roles each time you do the plays, is that you get to look at them from different perspectives. I've read the show, and considered the show, from Regan's point of view. Now I get to consider and explore it from Lear's, and it is fascinating.

I have some theories and ideas that are not even quarter-baked at this point, that I'm excited to explore with my director as we figure out what this show should look like. And I'm also happy to throw them out the window if they don't fit with her vision. Because the beauty of Shakespeare is that it will always be around, it will always be done, and there will always be an opportunity to do it again. Probably as a different character with a different perspective.

In the meantime, a huge thank you to the director and the producers for having enough faith in my abilities to entrust me with this role. I know that the fact that I got this opportunity means that others did not, and I intend to give it my everything to show that my casting was not a misstep. I can't wait to delve into this man's brain and figure out how to make it fall apart and come together again over the course of two hours. I cannot wait.