Kevin Kline to Star in King Lear at Public Theater; Walken, Noseworthy, Lewis, Pendleton, Weller, et al. Will Join Meryl Streep in Mother Courage and Her Children

Oscar and Tony Award winner Kevin Kline will play the title role in The Public Theater’s fall 2006 production of Shakespeare’s King Lear, to be directed by James Lapine. Kline, whose previous Shakespearean roles include Hamlet and Falstaff, recently did a workshop of the play for the Public. No dates, further casting, or creative team for the fall production have yet been announced.

In other Public Theater news, Christopher Walken, Jack Noseworthy, Jenifer Lewis, Austin Pendleton, and Frederick Weller will join Meryl Streep in Bertolt Brecht’s Mother Courage and Her Children, which will be performed August 8-September 3 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The play, to be presented in a new adaptation by Tony Kushner, will be directed by George C. Wolfe and will feature an original score by Jeanine Tesori. It will officially open on August 21.

Mother Courage will also star Raul Aranas, Geoffrey Arend, Max Baker, Ato Essandoh, Colleen Fitzpatrick, Glenn Fleshler, Michael Izquierdo, Eugene Jones, George Kmeck, Paco Lozano, Michael Markham, Larry Marshall, Sean Phillips, Silvestre Rasuk, Brittany Underwood, Alexandria Wailes, Jade Wu, and Waleed Zuaiter.