In 2007, a college theater program mounted a daring deconstruction of ShakespeareÕs most enigmatic play, King Lear. The resulting performance text moves past the psychological portrait of an aging monarch given us by Modernist interpreters of the stage. In its place, we find a spiritual story, told through the acts of blessing and cursing, that highlights the original pre-Arthurian mindset of the play. Teeming with the sights and sounds of rock music, popular culture, and tribal experience, LEAR ReLoaded finds a new center for ShakespeareÕs tragedy and thereby brings a new, fresh, and fully contemporary perspective to the play.
Scot Lahaie is an American playwright living in the Midwest. Trained as a stage director, his professional experiences also include work as an actor, director, designer, and university professor. He currently serves as the coordinator of the online graduate program in theatre at Regent University. Scot also serves as clergy in the Anglican Church of North America.