AC Theatre presents Queen Lear, an adaptation of Shakespeare’s King Lear

Exactly when and where the post-apocalyptic story of Queen Lear transpires – in the future on Earth, or in another world altogether – may be open to conjecture.

But the fact that the play has been judiciously adapted from Shakespeare’s masterful drama King Lear will be readily apparent throughout its four-performance run Oct. 3-6 at Amarillo College.

In his adaption, veteran instructor of theatre Monty Downs not only sets his players in an enigmatic backdrop, but he places heightened emphasis on the dementia that plagues the eponymous queen, a character being portrayed by Downs’s wife and AC alumna Robin Hooten Downs.

“Both our parents have struggled with dementia, and it’s something that Robin and I have certainly had to deal with and feel strongly about, which is why I wanted to place a considerably greater focus on the Queen’s affliction,” Downs said. “And the reason I decided to use a queen rather than a king is because a mother-daughter relationship is just different than a father-daughter relationship, and I felt that was worth examining more closely.

“As far as the story goes, it’s really Shakespeare’s same story of a British monarchy, political power plays, pagan beliefs, and how the health of monarchies were historically thought to be tied to the health of the land – to nature,” he said. “Placing it in a post-apocalyptic setting, well, that was just for fun.”

AC’s Theatre Arts web page describes the production thus: An aloof leader learns the truth about her place in the hearts of kith and kin and lashes out with the fury of a scorned queen. Shakespeare's tragic masterpiece is reimagined as Lear is undone by her own vanity when she asks her daughters to sing her praises and harshly punishes the only one of them who cares enough about her to tell the truth.

The student cast, which is joined by three AC alumni, will perform Queen Lear Oct. 3-6 at the Experimental Theatre on the Washington Street Campus. The play will begin at 7:30 p.m. Oct. 3-5, and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6.

Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students (college or high school) and AC employees. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door.  Additionally, groups of 10 or more are entitled to $6 seats if purchased at least 24 hours in advance.

Downs says he has enjoyed directing the student-dominated cast, most of whom have little or no experience with the works of Shakespeare.

“They’ve been putting in long hours learning how to decipher the old English, which to the uninitiated can sound like a second language, but which needs to be conveyed to the audience almost conversationally,” Downs said. “It’s great fun and very rewarding watching students who have never done Shakespeare learn and develop through this kind of process.”

Cast members are:

  • Robin Hooten Downs as Queen Lear
  • Gracie Richardson as Fool
  • Brionna Todd as Goneril
  • Jacob Pacheco as Duke of Albany/Servant 2
  • Connor Frausto as Oswald
  • Brooklynn Pruitt as Regan
  • Maggie Hall as Duke of Cornwall/Lear’s Knight
  • Zoey Cain as Cordelia/Attendant 4
  • Isael Melendez as King of France/Gentleman
  • Javier Rodriguez, Jr. as Duke of Burgandy/Curan/Soldier 3/Doctor
  • Bo James Kent as Earl of Kent
  • Steve Parker as Earl of Gloucester
  • Talon Russell as Edgar, his elder son
  • Austin Pounds as Edmund, his younger & illegitimate son
  • Abaddon Trent as Lear Attendant/Old Man/Captain 1
  • Brianna Ware as Goneril’s Attendant/Herald
  • Zachary Vidaurri as Servant 1/French Messenger/French Soldier
  • Alyssa Jackson as Regan’s Attendant/Gentlewoman 1
  • Janet Salgado Ramirez as Servant 3/Soldier 1/Messanger
  • Anessa Molina as Various Attendants/Soldier 2/Gentlewoman 2