Presenting ... Queen Lear!

The University of Northern Colorado School of Theatre Arts and Dance presents QUEEN LEAR, a gender-bent adaptation of Shakespeare’s classic, King Lear, adapted and directed by David Grapes, Director of the School of Theatre and Dance. QUEEN LEAR runs November 29 through December 2 in Langworthy Theatre located in Fraiser Hall. Tickets are available in-person at the box office located in Fraiser Hall, via phone at 970-351-2200 or online at www.arts.unco.edu.

 

This gender-bent adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear takes place in the mythical “Orcades” off the coast of Scotland long, long ago. Queen Lear, the last of many great tribal warrior/shamenesses is a defeated woman who decides to divide her kingdom among her daughters. However, her youngest child, Cordelia, fails the test of fealty and is banished without her rightful inheritance. Lear’s remaining daughters conspire to rid the kingdom of their mother’s influence while slowly torturing the queen into madness. At the same time, the Duchess of Gloucester and her daughters are also undergoing a power struggle. In the end, a new era begins for the tribe as a man takes his place on the throne for the first time in 5,000 years.

 Writer and Director, David Grapes, describes the concept of QUEEN LEAR, “In this radical, dynamic reinterpretation of Shakespeare’s King Lear, we transpose the action of the tragedy to Northern Scotland’s Orkney Islands in the 5th-6th century AD and place the iconic central role in the hands of a female actor to bring a fresh perspective to the play. Told from the perspective of the dead Cordelia, time unfolds before our eyes in a celebration of ancient magic and music unlike any version of Lear ever produced before.”