King Lear Tickets

Branagh directed the London production in addition to starring as its tragic title figure. Lucy Skilbeck and Rob Ashford, who directed the Academy Award-winning film Chicago and later Into the Woods, co-direct this Shed production. Known to most for playing Professor Gilderoy Lockhart in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Branagh is also quite familiar with the stage and the Bard: he previously played Hamlet in his Academy Award-nominated 1996 film and also Macbeth in an immersive production that ran at Manchester International Festival in 2013, followed by a 2014 run at New York City's Park Avenue Armory.

Presented by the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company, The Shed, and Fiery Angel, Branagh will perform the title role from October 26 through December 15 only, making the 50-show run an exclusive event at one of New York’s newest and most exciting venues, The Shed, which recently played host to the final Stephen Sondheim musical, Here We Are.

What to watch for

• The cast of a dozen includes some of England’s most well-trained performers: many of the actors studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, have appeared on the West End, and are particularly deft when it comes to interpreting Shakespeare's text.
• In playing Lear, Branagh completes a trifecta of great Shakespearean tragic roles: he’s been Hamlet in his Oscar–nominated film version of the play and on stage as Macbeth in a celebrated immersive production.
• The Shed is one of Manhattan’s newest major performance venues and has featured celebrity actors since its opening pre-COVID, including Cecily Strong, David Hyde Pierce, and others. Now, Branagh will grace its stages.
• Branagh sets himself apart from other Shakespeare actors because he also tends to direct the Bard’s works. Few have shown as rich a devotion to the esteemed playwright as this artist.