Considered Shakespeare’s greatest tragedy, Theatricum artistic director Ellen Geer takes on the title role of the aging monarch that sees Lear divide her kingdom and test the loyalty of her three sons.
Yet, this Lear, directed and interpreted by Ellen Geer and Melora Marshall, is interesting, intriguing, funny and ultimately, heartbreaking.
Joining Geer onstage are longtime company members Aaron Hendry as the handsome, yet evil eldest son, Goneril, Christopher W. Jones as the equally repugnant Regan and Dane Oliver as the youngest and most beloved son, “Cordelian.”
Alan Blumenfeld masterfully portrays the Earl of Gloucester, Abby Craden is sinister as Gloucester’s elder daughter, the bastard “Igraine,” and Willow Geer is her younger half-sister, “Eden,” who also doubles as the ‘mad beggar’ “Tom O’Bedlam.”
Also in the cast are Melora Marshall as the wise Fool, Liz Eldridge as the Duchess of Cornwall, Taylor Jackson Ross as the Duchess of Albany, Gerald C. Rivers in a beautiful portrayal as the loyal and wise Earl of Kent and Frank Weidner as Oswald, servant to Goneril.