Free Shakespeare at Home Presents “King Lear”

Submitted by the Event Organizer

This summer, Free Shakespeare in the Park is… Free Shakespeare at Home! In response to social distancing restrictions and pandemic safety measures, San Francisco Shakespeare Festival’s summer production is being presented LIVE on YouTube.

The live performances of Shakespeare’s compelling drama, King Lear, take place on Saturdays at 7pm and Sundays and Labor Day Monday at 4pm, now through Sept 27.

Individual artists acting in their homes will stream their performances to our tech director’s home studio. The individual digital streams are simultaneously synthesized by SF Shakes and broadcast to you, the audience, in visually compelling ways that capture the thrill of viewing a live performance.

King Lear is the story of a nation disrupted by political convulsion. The play was composed while Shakespeare was in quarantine during the plague of 1606, so it feels essential to this moment. We have been developing the script since the shelter-in-place orders were issued in March, and so the multiple crises that characterize our world at this time also inflect the vision of this play. You won’t want to miss it.

Director Elizabeth Carter has cast a woman in the leading role, in order to examine the particular pressures women face in leadership positions. Still known as the King, Lear plans to use her retirement party to divide her kingdom equally among her three daughters, demanding speeches of praise to prove which loves her most. But when her youngest refuses to play the game and is exiled, the nation is thrown into turmoil. Only through the intervention of the natural world does Lear find her way back to empathy with humankind. Full of thrilling language and unforgettable characters, as well as the famous storm scene, King Lear is Shakespeare at his very best.

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.