Returning to Cal Shakes after his acclaimed production of black odyssey, Obie-winning playwright Marcus Gardley brings his vision of black excellence, style, and wealth to one of the original power trips, Shakespeare’s King Lear.  Lear is a world-premiere translation and adaptation of the classic story of betrayal, madness and regicide coming to the Bruns Memorial Amphitheater.
 
Lear is set  in San Francisco and the East Bay in the late 1960’s and infused with a  jazz score composed and performed live by San Francisco Jazz scene bandleader, Marcus Shelby. This deeply personal Lear reckons with uncomfortable legacies, with the consequences of our actions, and with the vulnerability and ultimate resilience of the human heart to find its way back again.