theatre between the sacred and profane
Vernal & Sere
What's on:
L E A R by YOUNG JEAN LEE
April 15 - 30, 2023
The ensemble-based, movement driven Vernal & Sere Theatre returns to the Windmill Arts Center for its second production of their 2022-2023 residency season with an outlandish, bewildering, and ultimately haunting postmodernist epilogue to perhaps the most canonical text in human history – Shakespeare’s King Lear.
Written by Young Jean Lee, LEAR begins its story in the throne room of the recently deposed king and explores the psychological consequences such treatment of parents might render upon our own lives. A peculiar cocktail of theatrical ingredients, LEAR fuses the subject matter and styles of Shakespeare, Sesame Street, and Samuel Beckett to address the very real problem of dealing with a father’s mortality. Equal parts dick jokes and death jokes, LEAR is an irreverent play upon seriously sacred subject matter.
This play is being presented by our company at a time when all of its founding partners (and most of its dearest ensemble members) have crossed the threshold into our early-thirties. Many of us are transplants to this city we now call home, leaving our parents strewn about the country as we pursue this life of theatre-making in Atlanta. We look forward to presenting Young Jean Lee’s LEAR against the backdrop of this truth, evaluating (and laughing at) our own decisions and personal pursuits as we invite you to examine your own.
L E A R opens April 15th.
LEAR features: Jessica Craig as Cordelia, Laura Edwards as Goneril, Daniela Santiago as Regan, Kellen Boyle as Edgar, Pascal Portney as Edmund, and Alex Van as Lear
Directed by: Erin Boswell and Erin O’Connor
Stage Management: Lindsey Sharpless
Dramaturgy: Sawyer Estes
Lighting Design: Lindsey Sharpless
Costume Design: Julia Pistsova and Erin O’Connor
Costume Construction: Julia Pistsova and Kaelin Roach
Scenic Design: Erin Boswell and Erin O’Connor
Scenic Construction: Kathrine Barnes, Sam Ross, and Chris Schulz
Sound Design and Audio Engineering: Zach Halaby and Chandler Anderson
Projection Design and Videography: Matthew Shively and Sawyer Estes
Intimacy Captain: Lindsey Sharpless
Movement Direction and Choreography: Erin Boswell and Erin O’Connor
SFX Design: Kathrine Barnes
Poster Image: Katie Burke
Production Information
SENSORY ADVISORY:
This production utilizes strobe lights.
CONTENT ADVISORY:
This play includes themes that may be difficult, including grief and loss, body dysmorphia, fatphobia, body shaming, physical violence, mention of miscarriage, infanticide, and bestiality, bullying, mutilation imagery, simulated consensual sexual acts, use of stage blood, sexual harassment, torture, and death.
For more information, please contact us directly at vernalseretheatre@gmail.com and we will be happy to discuss the show in further detail with you.
RUNNING TIME: Who knows? Shorter than the last one. Hopefully under 90 mins if we're quick about it.
TICKETS BY SLIDING SCALE:
We've had many people ask how they can do and give more in support of our work, our livelihoods, and keep the cost of tickets affordable to all regardless of income.
Keeping theatre accessible and sustainable is a core value of ours as well. To achieve that end, we are proud to offer a sliding scale ticket model for our production of LEAR.
Limited quantities for each price point are available. Please choose the option which best reflects your need. We believe in a kind of pay-what-you-can ticketing model and are intent on working towards this within the Atlanta theatre scene.
If you are experiencing financial hardship and cannot meet these costs, don't let this prevent you from seeing the show. Email us at vernalseretheatre@gmail.com and we will be happy to work through your situation.
COVID PROTOCOLS:
All members of the performing company and crew of LEAR are fully-vaccinated against COVID-19 and are tested regularly. For the safety of our cast, crew and community, we encourage audience members to wear masks during performances. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us at vernalseretheatre@gmail.com.
