The European Shakespeare Festivals Network 2027 Project Proposal

King Lear and the Fool is a two-actor, approximately 80-minute reinterpretation based on William
Shakespeare’s King Lear. Staged since 2026, the production reconsiders Shakespeare’s text through
contemporary questions of power, justice, and governance.
The story begins after Lear has handed his kingdom over to his daughters. He has been banished
from the court. He is no longer a king; he has lost his palace, his power, and everything he once
possessed. Alone with his Fool in the middle of a storm on a mountaintop, Lear blames his
daughters’ ingratitude for his downfall, while the Fool constantly forces him to confront reality.
The relationship between these two characters forms the central conflict of the play: What is
power, how does it change hands, and why does this change so often lead to bloodshed?
The debate between Lear and the Fool over the transfer of power, merit, the desire for power,
justice, the people, democracy, and the dissolution of society develops into a broader political and
social questioning. Throughout the play, the Fool repeatedly steps out of his character and addresses
the audience directly, reminding them that what happens is not only Lear’s story; if we continue to
postpone confronting questions of power and justice, it may become the story of all of us.
The production was restructured around the relationship between Lear and the Fool in
Shakespeare’s King Lear. The period following Lear’s transfer of power is explored through a twoactor dramaturgy and an intense storm atmosphere. Shakespeare’s political and philosophical
questions are brought into dialogue with the possibilities of Karagöz, the traditional Turkish
shadow theatre, using its visual language and critical approach as part of the staging.
A large curtain covering the back wall and the floor forms the centre of the play’s visual world. A
full moon projected onto the curtain rises throughout the performance, while wind and thunder
create the atmosphere of the storm. The curtain sometimes becomes a space behind which the
characters can hide, and at other moments transforms into a Karagöz shadow-theatre screen on
which the actors’ shadows appear. In the acting approach, a parallel is established between the
relationship of Karagöz and Hacivat and that of Lear and the Fool.
For us, this approach is not merely an aesthetic choice. We see Shakespeare and Karagöz as two
theatrical traditions from different cultural backgrounds that share a strong interest in questioning
power, society, and human behaviour. The production explores what these two traditions can say to
each other today.
King Lear and the Fool is part of the long-term Shakespeare research carried out by Tiyatroevi
and Öteki Tiyatro. We have previously developed works such as Hamlet Forever, Aman Şekspir
Duymasın!, and Venedikli Tacir, a Karagöz adaptation of Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice.
Through these projects, we approach Shakespeare not only as a classical body of work, but as a
living source that can be re-examined through the theatrical languages of different cultures.
The production will tour with a four-person team, including two performers. Its minimal stage
design can be adapted to different performance conditions, both indoors and outdoors. Costumes
and accessories fit into two suitcases, and the production is compatible with existing lighting
systems.
As part of ESFN ShakeSphere, we confirm our availability for all festival dates listed in the 2027
programme. We aim to bring the production to audiences across Europe, open Shakespeare’s
questions about power, justice, and human nature to discussion within different cultural contexts,
and further develop our intercultural research between Shakespeare and Karagöz through
encounters with international artists and festivals.