Lear
Adapted and Directed by Rudy Ramirez | presented by the VORTEX Repertory Company
In
an age when women hold more power and in a time when the media turns
the private into the public a mother divides her empire among her
daughters. As her world crumbles and her family turns its back on
her, can she face the storm and find love, forgiveness, and peace?
A Celtic legend made into a Renaissance masterpiece, The VORTEX now
re-imagines William Shakespeare's King Lear as a female leader for
the modern world, where globalization blurs the line between governments
and corporations and names like Clinton, Palin, Thatcher, Stewart,
Wintour, and Winfrey have inspired admiration, contempt and controversy.
Jennifer Underwood leads a cast of Austin's finest actors in a story
of gender and power, family and business, compassion and betrayal.
Produced by VORTEX Repertory Company. Adapted from Shakespeare and Directed by Rudy Ramirez. Scenic Design by Ann Marie Gordon, Lighting Design by Jason Amato, Video Design by Sergio R. Samayoa, Costume Design by Pam Fletcher Friday. Stage Management by Tamara L. Farley.
Starring Jennifer Underwood as Lear with Suzanne Balling as Cordelia, David Boss as France/Ensemble, Jennifer Coy as Regan, Mick D'arcy as Gloucester, Trey Deason as Oswald, Joseph Garlock as Burgundy/ Ensemble, Micah Goodding as Edmund, Shannon Grounds as The Fool, Chelsea Manasseri as The Doctor/Ensemble, Toby Minor as Albany, Mindy Rast as Curan/Ensemble, Laura Ray as Lear's Gentlewoman/ Ensemble, Andrea Smith as Goneril, Tom Truss as Cornwall, Amelia Turner as Edda, and Julianna Elizabeth Wright as Kent.
View the production photos by Kimberley Mead
Read the Review of 'Lear'; Austin 360
Hear an Interivew with the Director; Arts Eclectic Interview
VORTEX Repertory Company is funded and supported
in part by the City of Austin through the Cultural Arts Division,
by the Texas Commission on the Arts, and by a and an award from
the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great
nation deserves great art.