U of S Department of Drama contributes talent and expertise to King Lear

U of S Department of Drama contributes talent and expertise to King Lear production, including: Skye Brandon (BFA ‘00), Jaron Francis (BFA ‘08), Aaron Hursh (BFA‘07), Jenna-Lee Hyde (BFA ‘11), Matt Josdal, (BFA ‘06), Rob van Meenen (BFA ‘99) and Jacob Yaworski ('13) and Blaine Hart (BA '82, BEd ’83).

King Lear dispels holiday froth
Tragic tale focuses on family
By Cam Fuller, The StarPhoenix December 26, 2012

If King Lear won't cleanse your palate after an overdose of mirth-ridden holiday entertainment, nothing will.

Shakespeare's gut-wrenching tragedy - about an old king who divides his kingdom, who betrays the daughter who loves him and who loses everything in a fog of blood and insanity - is about as far as you can get from reindeer games.

But it wasn't a twisted sense of humour or mischievous timing that inspired Theatre Naught's debut play, says company founder Skye Brandon. It was something more akin to artistic passion.

"What do we want to work on, as opposed to what's going to sell?" Brandon says, paraphrasing his fellow actors, a who's-who of local professional talent.

"Hopefully if we do a good job of telling the story, word of mouth will happen and people will come and see it."

Brandon, who trained and got his start in Saskatoon, has spent the past four sea-sons acting at the Stratford Festival. He returns there in 2013 with roles in Romeo and Juliet, The Three Musketeers and The Merchant of Venice starting in February. But the holiday break was too tempting not to do something with. Hence the creation of Theatre Naught.

"It came from a desire to want to come back and do Shakespeare with my friends here," says Brandon.

The co-op, which perforce entails a shoestring budget and wages tied directly to ticket sales, will pack a full-sized cast under Philip Adams' direction into the Remai Arts Centre's Back-Stage Stage. Kent Allen stars as Lear. Brandon is the heroic Edgar. Jamie Lee Shebelski is Cordelia.

It's a play filled with kings, dukes and earls. But what it's about is family, says Brandon. Lear giving his kingdom to his daughters Regan and Goneril after Cordelia repudiates his who-loves-me-more contest, sets the tragedy in motion.

"It is family dynamics that we potentially see in our own families or know about," says Brandon. "The more you focus on the more personal story, the more everything seems to take care of itself."

Brandon likes the name Theatre Naught because 'naught' is oft-used in Shakespeare and Lear. It also works because the actors aren't attached to a physical theatre. But without the support of Persephone Theatre, the U of S Drama Department and Shakespeare on the Saskatchewan, it would all be for naught, Brandon adds. As for future productions, that's a definite maybe, he says.

"If things go well, it would be kind of cool to do something else."

KING LEAR

Presented by Theatre Naught

Dec. 28 (preview) to Jan. 12 Remai Arts Centre BackStage Stage

Tickets: $15 to $23

Box office: 384-7727, www.persephonetheatre.org

CURTAIN CALL

The cast: Kent Allen, Skye Brandon, Jaron Francis, Eli Ham, Blaine Hart, Aaron Hursh, Jenna-Lee Hyde, Matt Josdal, Bruce McKay, Jamie Lee Shebelski, Anita Smith, Rob van Meenen, and Jacob Yaworski.

Skye Brandon's Shakespeare Top Five:

1. Henry IV I and II (And, in no particular order)

Hamlet

Cymbeline

Winter's Tale

King Lear
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