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Artists are listed alphabetically by last name, and if you scroll all the way down you can read the Director’s Notes.

Notes from the Director, Toby Vera Bercovici:

This performance is the culmination of a dream which began six years ago with a reading of King Lear at an apartment in NYC, and continued the following summer with a residency at the beautiful Dragon’s Egg in CT, where we met for the first time as an ensemble to explore what this piece and who this family could be. We gathered again in December of that year, in the basement of the Shea Theatre, and welcomed some of you to a sharing of 50 minutes of improvised scenes. We took a several year hiatus due to the Pandemic and other major life events before diving in earnest into the creation of the script. It has not been easy for us to gather, coming as we do from different states, and as far away as Copenhagen, Denmark. But it is a testament to this special and talented group of people, as well as to the beauty and power of the work, that we persisted in the creation of this piece. I gave the actors characters from King Lear off of which to base their characters: Lear, the Fool (with a dash of Kent), Goneril, Regan, and Cordelia (with a dash of Edmund). I also gave them a place within the family: mother, partner, eldest, middle, youngest. But then, the actors built their characters and relationships through improvisations. I would outline a time of day, a task which needed to be accomplished, and a scene or monologue from King Lear from which to take inspiration. They would improvise, and if there seemed to be something there, they would improvise again and again, each time honing the purpose and dialogue of the scene. Much of this script originated in the mouths of the actors, although I restructured and rearranged, and wrote additional scenes. But the piece organically arose out of this particular group of actors as they encountered one another, King Lear, and the circumstances of a family navigating the challenges of early onset Alzheimer's and addiction. 

Examples of a structured improvisation:

3. Picnic, Colleen and Fool.

Time of Day: 12pm. 

Given Circumstances/Action: Lunchtime. Fool has prepared an indoor picnic. She has a picnic basket, a red-and-white checked cloth, cheese, bread, grapes, sparkling cider. They go on an imaginary journey, paint a vivid picture for one another of their surroundings somewhere in the beautiful French countryside. Part of the point of this is to give Leela some exercise. She can’t go out on her own for walks anymore, and, anyhow, it’s the middle of winter. They sing “Stoned Soul Picnic.” They use Body Part Memories as a structure. They move in and out of song. It ends with Leela’s playful frustration at not being able to remember that turns into big wailing. Fool holds her. Leela says “I don’t know where I am,” and Fool says “In my arms.”

7. Beauty, Leela and Regan.

Time of Day: 4pm

Given Circumstances/Action: Just after Leela’s nap. Begins with the loving sounds off stage of Regan waking Leela, childlike, up from her nap. Tickles, kisses, snuggles. Regan has a surprise for Leela: a Beauty Parlor set up in their house! Regan is going to help Leela get ready for the opening night of Fool’s new variety show, created in her honor. Regan takes out a new dress for Leela to put on, but then busies herself with something else (setting out beauty products), leaving Leela to get confused and then frustrated by how to put it on. Regan then sits her down to do lipstick, powder, hair, eyes, and lotion for her hands and arms. There is also a magazine and a mirror. Leela revisits her earlier argument with Goneril and insists she is going to come live with Regan. Ends with Regan taking Leela downstairs for the “show.”