Kenneth Branagh to Lead King Lear at The Shed in Fall 2024
(Illustration by Sally Thurer, based on a photo by Johan Persson, c/o Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company)
Kenneth Branagh will lead a production of Shakespeare's King Lear at The Shed this coming fall, a limited 50-performance engagement of the 2023 West End production. Presented by the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company, The Shed and Fiery Angel, Branagh will perform the title role from October 26 through December 15, with an official November 14 opening.
The off-Broadway cast will also feature Mara Allen (Curan), Deborah Alli (Goneril), Raymond Anum (Burgundy), Melanie‐Joyce Bermudez (Regan), Kenneth Branagh (King Lear), Doug Colling (Edgar), Dylan Corbett‐Bader (France), Eleanor De Rohan (Kent), Chloe Fenwick‐Brown (Oswald), Joseph Kloska (Gloucester), Corey Mylchreest (Edmund), Hughie O’Donnell (Cornwall), Caleb Obediah (Albany) and Jessica Revell (Cordelia/The Fool).
Branagh directed the London production in addition to starring as its tragic title figure. The actor is familiar with Shakespeare's great tragic roles, having previously played Hamlet in his Academy Award-nominated 1996 film and Macbeth in an immersive production that ran at Manchester International Festival in 2013, followed by a 2014 run at New York City's Park Avenue Armory.