King Lear

Babes with Blades Theatre Company

dir. Alison Dornheggen
by William Shakespeare

Oct. 15th - Nov. 21st 2026
Theater Wit, Chicago, IL

Production Stage Manager

THE PLAY

King Lear, in order to “unburdened, crawl toward death,” chooses to divide the ruling of the kingdom between his three daughters via a verbal joust of who loves him the most. When his youngest daughter Cordelia does not meet the standards he expected her, chaos, greed and betrayal creep in to take over the story. Parallel to Lear’s suffering, his friend the Earl of Gloucester is manipulated by one son to turn on his other son.

THE ROLE

Stage Manager for a world premiere production, leading a large production team, including supervising and training an Assistant Stage Manager through rehearsals and performances. Maintained detailed tracking across blocking, script development, and choreography for a cast including a large ensemble, doubling, and both internal and external doubling. Production featured heavy stage combat requiring close coordination with fight choreographers.

Lynne Baker

Kim Boler

Rachel Sleek-Bañuelos

Jennifer Mohr

Jennifer Mickelson

Ahlora Victoria

Morgan Manasa

Brandi Jiminez Lee

Thomas Russell

Kim Fukawa

Kathrynne Wolf

Brittani Yawn
Madeline Meyer

Dani De La Rosa

Sarah Cushman

Sophia Lanza-Weil

Carrie Hardin

PRODUCTION TEAM

CAST

Director

Assistant Director

Stage Manager

Assistant SM

Production Manager

Production Assistant

Costume Design

Fight Director

Assist Fight Director

Intimacy Design

Lighting Design

Props Design

Scenic Design

Sound Design

Technical Director

Text Coach

King Lear
Goneril
Regan
Cordelia / Fool
Duke of Albany / Ensemble
Duke of Cornwall / Ensemble (U/S Regan)
Earl of Gloucester
Edgar
Edmund
Oswald/Duke of Burgundy (U/S Edgar)
Earl of Kent
Ensemble U/S (Cordelia/Fool)
Ensemble U/S (Oswald & Kent)
Ensemble U/S (Edmund & Cornwall)
Understudy: Goneril/Albany/Ensemble Tracks
Understudy: Gloucester/Ensemble Tracks
Understudy: King Lear