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“King Lear” returns to ActorsNet – after 20 years

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William Shakespeare’s immortal tragedy “King Lear” returns to the stage in this area after a 20-year absence.

From June 10 through 26, ActorsNET of Morrisville, presents Shakespeare’s towering drama two decades after it first presented it in 2002. The company’s Artistic Director Cheryl Doyle once again directs the play at the company’s intimate theater along the Delaware River. The title role will be played this time by George Hartpence.

“It seems appropriate to return to ‘King Lear’ in these uncertain times, as the play plumbs the depths of sorrow and anger while also reaching great heights of love and redemption,” Doyle said.

“King Lear” is widely considered one of the greatest tragedies ever written. In the play, aging King Lear gives his kingdom to cold-hearted daughters Goneril and Regan, rejecting younger daughter Cordelia, who is pure of heart but too honest.

Driven out by the two older women, Lear — accompanied by his faithful fool and a banished but faithful earl — confronts the fury of a violent storm, and his madness rises to meet it.

In a parallel plot, the Duke of Gloucester’s illegitimate son plots the destruction of his father and his legitimate brother, seducing both Goneril and Regan in his quest for power. As war looms among the sisters, Lear’s harrowing descent into madness echoes growing chaos in his family and kingdom.

Performances are at the Heritage Center Theater, 635 N. Delmorr Ave., Morrisville, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Ticket reservations, including seat selection, are available at actorsnetbucks.org.


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