King Lear
Written by: William Shakespeare
Directed by: Alison Dornheggen*
Fight Direction by: Jessica Pennachio
BWBTC Shakespeare

About the Show
King Lear, in order to “unburdened, crawl toward death,” chooses to divide the ruling of the kingdom between his three daughters via a verbal joust of who loves him the most. When his youngest daughter Cordelia does not meet the standards he expected her, chaos, greed and betrayal creep in to take over the story. Parallel to Lear’s suffering, his friend the Earl of Gloucester is manipulated by one son to turn on his other son.
| WHERE | Theater Wit 1229 W Belmont Ave Chicago IL 60657 |
| WHEN | October 14 – November 21, 2026 |
| SHOWTIMES | Thursdays, Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00pm Sundays at 3:00pm |
| PREVIEWS | October 15 and 16 |
| PRESS OPENING | Saturday, October 17 |
| *NO PERFORMANCE | Saturday, October 31 |
| CLOSING NIGHT | Saturday, November 21 |
| SENSORY FRIENDLY | October 25 |
| FULLY MASKED AUDIENCE PERFORMANCES |
November 1 |
| OPEN CAPTIONING | November 7, 8, 12 & 13 |
| STREAMING DATES | TBA |
AUDIENCE ALERT
- This production uses realistic staged violence in the telling of the story.
RUN TIME
Approximately 2 hours, 20 minutes (including intermission)
Cast
With storefront theater veteran Lynne Baker (she/her) in the titular role of King Lear, the cast also includes Babes With Blades Theatre Company Ensemble Members Kim Fukawa (she/her, Oswald/Duke of Burgundy, Edgar U/S); Carrie Hardin (she/her, King Lear U/S); Morgan Manasa (she/her, Earl of Gloucester); Jennifer L. Mickelson (she/her, Duke of Albany/ensemble); Jennifer Mohr (she/her, Cordelia/Fool); Thomas Russell (he/they, Edmund) and Kathrynne Wolf (she/her, Earl of Kent). They are joined by, in alphabetical order, Kim Boler (she/her, Goneril); Sarah Cushman (she/her, Goneril/Duke of Albany/ensemble U/S); Dani De la Rosa (she/her; ensemble/Edmund and Duke of Cornwall U/S); Brandi Jiminez Lee (she/her, Edgar); Sophia Lanza-Weil (she/her, Earl of Gloucester/ensemble U/S); Madeline Meyer (she/her; ensemble/Oswald and Kent U/S); Rachel Sleek Bañuelos (she/her, Regan); Ahlora Victoria (she/her, Duke of Cornwall/Regan U/S) and Brittani Yawn (she/her, ensemble/Cordelia and Fool U/S).
Production Team:
The production team includes BWBTC ensemble members Line Bower (they/them, technical director); Alison Dornheggen (she/her, director); Hayley Rice (she/her, text coach); Payton Shearn (she/they, production assistant) and Laura J. Wiley (she/her, lighting designer) as well as Jessie Gowens (she/her, costume designer); Hannah Foerschler (she/her, sound designer); Tristan Hall (they/them, intimacy designer); Rose Hamill (she/her, production manager); Morgan Lazlo (they/them, scenic designer); Arielle Leverett (she/her, assistant director); Ryan Liddell (he/him, assistant fight choreographer); Elena Lindeman (they/she, props designer); Grace Elizabeth Mealey (she/her, stage manager) and Jess Pennachio (she/her, fight director).


***Ticket sales end 3 hours before curtain. Seats may still be available even if it says no longer available.***
BWBTC will be collecting charity donations for a TBA program closing week of the run.