Theater Director Chris Rushing’s favorite Shakespeare play is “Lear.” But that’s not why he chose it for his Woodson High thespians to perform.

“It’s a really challenging play, and I wouldn’t have picked it if we didn’t have an awesome cast,” he said. “We have the right group of students, with diverse talents, for the show’s complexity. It’s an ensemble show and is the most moving Shakespearean tragedy.”

The curtain rises Friday, Nov. 8, at 7 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 9, at 1 and 7 p.m.; Friday, Nov. 15, at 7 p.m.; and Saturday, Nov. 16, at 1 and 7 p.m. Tickets, at the door or via wtwdrama.org, are “pay what you can,” students, $5; and adults, $10-$25. Containing violence and flashing lights, the show is recommended for ages 10 and above.

In Woodson’s version, King Lear is instead Queen Lear, described by her portrayer, senior Charlotte Willmore, as “an old, withered monarch ready to pass down her kingdom to her three daughters. When she asks them who loves her most, the two oldest flatter her and say they do. The youngest, Cordelia, believes she doesn’t need to flaunt her love in front of others and says she loves her mother exactly the right amount.”

Infuriated, because Cordelia was her favorite, Lear banishes her from the kingdom forever. There’s also tension in the Gloucester family between sons Edgar and Edmund, a bastard who’s jealous of Edgar. So Edmund conspires to pit Edgar and his mother, Lady Gloucester (another shift from a traditional male role), against each other.

With a cast and crew of 75, this play “has everything,” said Rushing. “There’s an aging mother clearly going through dementia, yet this show is surprisingly funny. There’s romance, fight scenes, torture and high drama. At the end of the day, it’s about a family falling apart. Yet it’s cathartic because everyone is so human.”

In this rendition of “Lear,” the actors make eye contact with the audience members and talk directly to them. Doing so, said Rushing, “makes Shakespeare’s language much more accessible to them. He said the moral of the play is that “we need to speak authentically and genuinely to each other while we can, because we don’t know when tragedy will strike.”

Willmore calls Queen Lear jaded and used to always getting what she wants. “But now she isn’t, and she has to learn to cope, because her older daughters don’t care about her and try to usurp her power,” explained Willmore. “She’s also hurt and misses Cordelia. 

“It’s the hardest role I’ve ever tackled and is considered one of Shakespeare’s most difficult and complicated characters. So as a 17-year-old, I’m trying to do justice to it. It’s a challenge, but it’s also very rewarding; and, each rehearsal, I learn and grow a little more. Plus, I’ve had to research my lines, so I really understand the language and what my character’s trying to say. Then I can better convey her emotions to the audience.”

Willmore also appreciates Rushing’s “really fresh take on this play – not just in the gender changes, but also because there’s a lot of cool imagery and symbolism. Each character is represented by their own animal. Lear is a stag, her older daughters are a goat and a serpent, Cordelia is a fawn, Edmund’s a fox and Edgar’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It’s shown in their costumes and headpieces.”

“A lot of people are intimidated by Shakespeare’s language,” continued Willmore. “But once people see this play, the emotion and universal themes delving into human nature and family guilt will come across to the audience.”

Junior Julie Gurrola plays a character called the fool and is also the show’s co-makeup designer. In her latter role, she likes working closely with the costumers, determining what makeup each character needs and doing it with friends. “There are lots of special effects with blood,” she said. “And I figure out whether people need either sharper or softer facial lines to show their character’s personality.”

Regarding the fool, Gurrola describes her as silly and honest. “When she speaks the truth, it’s usually in riddle or song,” said Gurrola. “And she’s the only one who can make fun of Lear without being banished from the kingdom. I wear a jester hat, plus an outfit inspired by a rooster, and I also carry a rooster puppet. Roosters are colorful and they crow, and the fool is trying to tell Lear she’s making a mistake by not giving some of her land to Cordelia.”

Gurrola loves her part because “it’s such a fun character to be. I do physical comedy, wordplay, sing and play guitar. The fool is important to the story’s development, and I think she’s actually the wisest character and accurately predicts what’s going to happen.”

She said audiences will love the show’s monologues because “they’re easy to follow and let the actors have fun with their characters. And when they’re having fun, the audience will, too. And it’s entrancing watching Charlotte do her monologue as Lear.”

Lauren O’Dell, a junior, leads the scenic-painting crew and is also a graphic and projection designer for the show. Scenes take place at Lear’s castle, other castles and in the woods, with banners indicating location changes. “We’re also projecting a family tree on a side wall,” said O’Dell. “It’ll help people recognize the familial relationships between the characters.”

She likes this tech work because “it helps me express my own creativity while working with others and then adapt my thoughts so we can create new ideas that really highlight the story. I think people will enjoy the beauty in all the small details of this show, and they’ll provide the audience with ‘a-ha’ moments. For example, the house crest of one of the families contains a broken sword because one of their children was born out of wedlock.”

Classmate Henry Green is the set designer, leading a crew of about 14 people. He also helped construct it, along with two other set heads. “There are old, decrepit, English castles with vines coming through them, plus banners of the different house crests,” he explained. “Battlements extend from the main castle – and rain falls from them.

“The most challenging part was coming up with the rain system and figuring out where the water supply would come from, how we’d get it 12 feet up in the air, and how and where we’d collect it. Under the main castle, there are two 100-gallon water barrels – one is the water supply, and one is where the falling rain recirculates into. It involved a lot of math, but it was fun learning a new skill and doing something drastically different onstage. I think it’ll be really cool.”