What happens when authority collapses? When families fracture? When the cosmos itself seems to react to human uncertainties?

 

Our Performance Symposium of King Lear invites students into one of Shakespeare's most profound tragedies, revealing how the poet and the function of performance wrestle with the play's enormous emotional and philosophical questions. Complete scenes are performed with full dramatic intensity before the creative team opens up the work, examining how language makes living theatre.

 

Created for Year 11 students, this dynamic experience explores the play's central concerns—power, justice, identity, ageing, love, loyalty and the search for meaning in a world that often appears indifferent to human suffering. Students witness how Shakespeare's language shifts between intimate psychological realism and epic theatrical spectacle, discovering why King Lear continues to challenge artists and audiences alike.

 

Throughout the performance, rehearsal becomes a form of investigation. Different interpretations are tested in front of the audience, demonstrating that Shakespeare's plays invite debate rather than definitive answers. Students gain valuable insight into dramatic construction while developing the confidence to form sophisticated personal responses.

 

This is more than a performance and more than a lecture. It is an invitation into the creative heart of Shakespeare's theatre, where every rehearsal asks new questions and every performance uncovers fresh possibilities.

 

CURRICULUM:

English Year 11 & Drama. Students meet one of Shakespeare's greatest tragedies, live, exploring power, family, justice, ageing and human resilience; while examining how dramatic form, language and theatrical conventions create meaning. An invaluable resource for both English and Drama students studying dramatic texts and live performance.