LEAR ReLoaded
A Deconstruction Based on the Text of Shakespeare’s King Lear
In 2007, a college theater program mounted a daring deconstruction of Shakespeare’s most enigmatic play, King Lear. The resulting performance text moves past the psychological portrait of an aging monarch given us by Modernist interpreters of the stage.
In its place, we find a spiritual story — told through the acts of blessing and cursing — that highlights the original pre-Arthurian mindset of the play. Teeming with the sights and sounds of rock music, popular culture, and tribal experience, LEAR ReLoaded finds a new center for Shakespeare’s tragedy and brings a fresh, fully contemporary perspective to the play.
This photobook is a record of that unique and exciting production, complete with photographs, production notes, candid backstage photos, and the complete script.
Available in print and Kindle editions · Paperback · 2022
Scot Lahaie is a playwright living in the Midwest. His full-length plays include the award-winning Dogfall, Gloria Dei, Purging Mary, Luminarium, Mysterium, Miraculum, Purgatorium, LEAR ReLoaded, The Cattle Baron’s Ball, Big Brother 2024, Mary, Mother of God, and Gadfly.