King Lear

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

BWBTC Shakespeare

William Shakespeare's King Lear

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).

BWBTC King Lear Cast - group 1
BWBTC King Lear Cast - group 2

***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.