Original Practice Shakespeare Festival presents “King Lear”

Original Practice Shakespeare Festival offers a free presentation of “King Lear” at 7 p.m. July 15 at Laurelhurst Park, Southeast Cesar E. Chavez Boulevard and Stark Street, Portland. The company uses the original practice techniques of Elizabethan England: limited rehearsal, scrolls in hand, audience interaction, and an onstage prompter. Gender-fluid casting (just like in Ye Olde Shakespearean Days) is the norm.

To sum up the plot: Lear’s retiring and divides up his kingdom. Regan gets half. Gonerril gets half. Cordelia gets banished. Kent gets banished, but sticks around anyways (in disguise!). Edmund the Bastard stages a coup, alongside Goneril and Regan. Lear is cast out. Cordelia rides to Lear’s rescue. All your favorite characters die.

The Original Practice Shakespeare Festival performs all 25 plays in its repertory over the summer at 11 different Portland parks, with no admission fee. The company of skilled, flexible actors will perform with occasional interruptions of songs, dances and sketches. Shows usually begin at 7 p.m. and the audience is welcome to arrive during the hour before to watch dance and fight rehearsals. Children and leashed dogs are welcome. Picnic meals are encouraged. To see the complete summer schedule, visit www.opsfest.org.