John Scott’s Irish Modern Dance Theatre presents a streamlined dance version of Shakespeare’s tragic play LEAR, with Valda Setterfield

Firkin Crane, Cork (Oct 14) & Samuel Beckett Theatre, Dublin (Oct 22-24)

If you still have any money left after five weeks of various festivals, here is one that caught our eye. Lear is a modern dance interpretation of the play and stars Valda Setterfield who is now 82 years old! She performed in a number of Woody Allen films; such as Mighty Aphrodite and Everyone Says I Love You. Full details are below…

Following sell out performances at New York Live Arts earlier this year, John Scott’s Irish Modern Dance Theatre returns to the Irish stage with New York’s legendary dancer / actor Valda Setterfield and the Lear Project, performing at the Firkin Crane, Cork (Oct 14) and Samuel Beckett Theatre, Dublin (Oct 22 – 24).

Depicting the Shakespearean King’s gradual descent into madness, this deeply personal and riveting version of Shakespeare’s masterpiece where Setterfield gives a profoundly moving performance. Scott’s Lear explores the infamous king’s unraveling universe, parental love, fear of death, personal transformation and enlightenment, and is staged with a gender reversed cast.

The inimitable Setterfield, now eighty-two years old, is noted for her work with the David Gordon Pick Up Performance Company and as a soloist for Merce Cunningham who was at the forefront of the American modern dance scene for over fifty years. She has also performed in films by Woody Allen, including Mighty Aphrodite and Everyone Says I Love You.

Toppling the hierarchy are three men performing the roles of Goneral, Regan and Cordelia in Scott’s dance version of the Bard’s play. The dancers include Ireland’s Mufatau Yusuf, recently graduated from the Salzburg Experimental Academy of Dance [SEAD], Irish dancer Ryan O’Neill and young French dancer Kevin Coquelard.

Directed by John Scott
Designed by Eric Würtz

Opening Music by James Everest

Composition & Sound Design by Tom Lane

Performed by Valda Setterfield / Mufatau Yusuf / Ryan O’Neill / Kevin Coquelard