four actors portraying characters from King Lear pose in front of a black backdrop

Actors From The London Stage – 'King Lear'

10 a.m. Thursday (school show) and 7:30 p.m. Friday (public show), March 25, 2027 - March 26, 2027 | Yardley Hall

School show
Thursday, Mar. 25 at 10 a.m.
School show tickets start at $5.

Public show
Friday, Mar. 26 at 7:30 p.m.
Public show tickets start at $25.

Season ticket packages on sale now. Individual tickets on sale June 15.

Individual Tickets Season Tickets (save 15-20% per show)

Recommended for grades 8-12.


Confronting the role of the monarch in the balance between authority and chaos, "King Lear" reveals the beauty of selfless love, the heartache of betrayal, and the descent of civilization into brutishness when selfish greed has run amok. Shakespeare’s powerful examination of madness, politics, and filial love is as resonant and important as ever.


Actors From The London Stage (AFTLS) was founded in 1975 at the University of California, Santa Barbara, by Professor Homer “Murph” Swander and the renowned stage and screen actor Sir Patrick Stewart, best known as Captain Picard on TV’s “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and Professor Xavier in theX-Men” film franchise.

The AFTLS company ethos and mission is simplicity at its finest. Five actors take the stage, with minimal props and costumes, and direct themselves in a performance of a complete Shakespeare play, with each actor portraying multiple roles.

But the performance is only part of the experience. The company tours colleges and universities across the United States twice yearly, with each tour organized and administered by Shakespeare at Notre Dame. Each company of five actors leads classes and workshops throughout the residency week.

The goal: to interpret Shakespeare’s text as a blueprint for performance, lifting the words off the page as Shakespeare originally intended.