Regime Change Explored in NCC Production of King Lear
Based on a centuries-old legend with enduring sway, William Shakespeare’s “King Lear” will open a season of plays at Northampton Community College.
The play probes the drive for influence and power; as an aging king clings to authority after his reign is over, he unleashes every power grab imaginable and loses his sanity, soul and family.
“Authority, it seems, is never to be trusted, especially when it comes to transfer of power or regime change,” says Norman Roberts, professor of Theatre/Communications and director of the production. The play dramatizes how difficult it can be to pass this authority on.
Roberts says that the play encourages modern audiences to question whether we are better at handling authority than people were four centuries ago, when “King Lear” was written.
The cast of NCC’s production includes Peter Sanchez as Lear and Abigail Parker of Stroudsburg as Cordelia. Other cast members are Tasha Pratt of Phillipsburg, New Jersey; Katherine Mayk of Schnecksville; Matthew Moser of Northampton; James Nester of Bethlehem; Craig Mahlman of Saucon Valley; Garrett Theoret of Bath; Jon Brand of Bethlehem; Richard Nazzaro of Mount Bethlel; Kent of Easton; Enoch Mars of Bear, Delaware; Mike Seamans of Coopersburg; Chris Cusumano of Center Valley, and Ashley Pierce of Ephrata.
Costumes, designed by NCC faculty member Jaye Beetem, reflect the primitive quality of the early middle ages, in accordance with the antiquity of the original King Lear story. In earthy tones, they complement a powerful story.
Performances:
October 20, 21, 27, and 28 at 7:00 p.m. and on October 25 at noon at Lipkin Theatre, Main Campus, 3835 Green Pond Road, Bethlehem Township.
Admission is free, but a donation of canned goods for a local food bank or a monetary contribution to the NCC Actors’ Scholarship Fund is requested.
The 2006-2007 of NCC theatre productions examine the failure of perceptions to tell us what is real. Plays both tragic and comic explore the shortcomings of the structures we use for knowing—parent-child relationships, social relationships, ethnic identity, and technology. Performances include “Tolerance Through Theatre,” “Defying Gravity,” and “The Heidi Chronicles.”
