Performance: Shakespeare's King Lear

What do you call a king who gives up his kingdom? A fool? Or a father ready to pass on the burdens of power?

Join local actors Stephen Collins and Poornima Kirby for this haunting, darkly funny adaptation of Shakespeare’s timeless classic. This one-hour production draws directly from Shakespeare’s text, with Stephen Collins as the mercurial King Lear, and Poornima Kirby as his devoted, clear-eye fool, who narrates the action, and flows fluidly between Lear’s daughters, friends, and enemies.

This artistic adaptation honors the beautiful essence of the play, while bringing fresh life and a playful twist to its timeless questions of mortality, loyalty, and the parent-child bond.

This program is presented by the Boston Public Library as part of their Never Too Late Group created with older adults in mind. Due to the ample seating available in the Rabb Lecture Hall, registration is not required; instead, seating is first come, first served. We will open doors 15 minutes in advance of the program.

About the performers:

Earning rave reviews for over a decade, Stephen Collins’ performances not only deliver the poetry and plays, but bring poets and playwrights to life on the stage. From his signature performance of Unlaunche’d Voices, an Evening with Walt Whitman, to his newest addition Songs of my Father (Herman Melville), his shows convey an understanding of the impact and the reactions of the characters to their respective times, giving the audience not just a performance, but an experience. More information available at http://unlaunchedvoices.com/.

Poornima Kirby is a Boston-based actress, teacher, writer and director. She has a special affinity for poetic texts and collaborative theater making. Her regional acting credits include Sleep no More (Mrs. De Winter) with the A.R.T., Daughter of Venus (Aramintha) with Wellfleet Harbor Actors’ Theater, Hamlet (Ophelia) with Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Midsummer Night’s Dream (Titania), Much Ado About Nothing (Beatrice), and Winter's Tale (Hermione) with Bay Colony Shakespeare, Dr. Faustus (Faustus) with Wax Wings, and many more. Poornima writes, directs and performs regularly with Theatre of Eternal Values, a meditation-based theater company with bases in Cabella, Italy and Quincy, Ma. Poornima is artistic director for the American branch of TEV, and co-authored and performs in several of their productions. She has also appeared in numerous commercials, industrials and several independent films, including Justice (Enlightened Pictures) and The Walker (Walking Man Productions). She also works regularly as a teaching artist and public speaking coach, and is the co-author and co-creator of two original theater productions with actor Stephen Collins, including Shake-Scene, a compilation of some of Shakespeare’s most compelling scenes and sonnets, and A Christmas Carol, a sweet and funny adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Christmas classic. Poornima holds a B.A. in Drama from Vassar College and has trained at LAMDA and Shakespeare & Company. More information available at www.PoornimaKirby.com.

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