Saturday Shakespeare To Read And Discuss King Lear

Often considered the Bard’s greatest tragedy, “King Lear” will be the focus of the Saturday Shakespeare Club over a five-week period on Zoom beginning April 22, at 10 a.m., as are all sessions.

“King Lear” was selected because it is one of the plays being produced by Santa Cruz Shakespeare this summer and hasn’t been examined by the club since 2014. Paul Mullins, who will direct this year’s production, will be one of the group’s speakers.

Speaking April 22 at the first session will be Michael Warren, UC Santa Cruz emeritus professor of English literature. Warren has been dramaturge for many of Santa Cruz Shakespeare’s productions and continues that work with the company.

Mullins will speak at the second session, April 29, speaking at 11 a.m. after the group reads Act II and parts of Act III of the play under discussion starting at 10 a.m.

Speaking at the third session, May 6, will be Heather James, professor of English at the University of Southern California.

Speaking at the May 13 session will be Julia Reinhard Lupton, English professor at UC Irvine, who has written extensively on Shakespeare, Renaissance literature, religious studies and the humanities. Lupton is the co-director of the New Swan Shakespeare Center, which partners with UCSC’s Shakespeare Workshop on public programming.

On May 20, a film version of “King Lear” will be shown; it has yet to be chosen.

Participants are urged to read the play prior to the weekly sessions. The club will use the Pelican edition.

All sessions are free, but the group urges those who participate to contribute $2 per session or $10 for the series to Santa Cruz Shakespeare, which, like many local theatre companies, is facing difficult financial times. Donations may be made at www.santacruzshakespeare.org/donate/

To join the Saturday Shakespeare Club and receive notifications and online sign-in code for each session, email saturdayshakespeare@gmail.com