King Lear : The Dramaturg’s Lens with Dr. Philippa Kelly
Want to explore King Lear more deeply before experiencing it onstage? Join Oakland Theater Project Resident Dramaturg Dr. Philippa Kelly for The Dramaturg’s Lens, a four-week course examining Shakespeare’s great tragedy, its enduring and highly contemporary themes, and the role of music in the upcoming production.
The course includes conversations with composer Paul Dresher, who is composing an original score for the production and playing live with Joel Davel [September 28] ; and actors J Jha, Rinde Eckert and Dean Linnard. Classes begin September 14 with an in-person gathering (repeated on zoom the next day for those who can’t make the gathering). Thereafter the course runs Mondays 4 pm online. It is suitable for all ages and levels of theatrical knowledge.
Dr. Philippa Kelly was the first woman in history to be commissioned to produce a public edition of King Lear (Halstead Press, 2002). She has also written King Lear: A Guide (Oxford University Press) and The King and I (Bloomsbury Press), a contemporary exploration of King Lear. Philippa grew up in Australia, and came to dramaturgy by way of academe, where she’s held fellowships from many foundations including the Fulbright, Rockerfeller, and Walter and Eliza Hall Foundations, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Australian Research Council, and the Humanities Research Centre. She has published over thirty peer-reviewed articles (many of them on King Lear) and eleven books with international presses. Philippa is Resident Dramaturg at the Oakland Theater Project and co-lead dramaturg at Marin Shakespeare Company, and has served as production dramaturg at many other theaters including the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the San Francisco Playhouse, the Berkeley Repertory Theater, the Magic Theatre, and Shotgun Company Players. She held a long-term appointment as Resident Dramaturg with the California Shakespeare Theater before its closure in 2024. Philippa brings her deep love of research to her dozens of theatre playbill pieces, aiming, in each, to give audiences something to add to their conversations as they walk away from a play. Her theater leadership in American colleges and middle and high schools has been supported by the California Arts Council and the Walter and Elise Haas Foundation. In 2015 Philippa received a National Bly Award for Innovation in Dramaturgy from the Literary Managers and Dramaturgs of the Americas.
COURSE
Classes are on Mondays at 4pm from September 14th to October 5th plus one optional in-person class and rehearsal observation on September 15th at 5pm.
WEEK 1: 9/14 @ 4pm, Zoom + Bonus 9/15 @ 5pm, in person
Shakespeare’s Great Play
WEEK 2: 9/21 @ 4pm, Zoom
King Lear: Who’s the Fool?
WEEK 3: 9/28 @ 4 pm, Zoom
Orchestrating King Lear: how music scaffolds our production
WEEK 4: 10/5 @ 4pm, Zoom
King Lear’s legacy: the many faces and themes of Shakespeare’s play
Full Course Registration: $115 for 4 weeks (*the tickets are listed for Sept 14th, but it will give you entry to all 4 weeks) [$119.95 including fees]
*Pay-what-you-can tickets available upon request. Please email boxoffice@oaklandtheaterproject.org
Ticket available through the Oakland Theater Project.
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