Barely There Theatre, a hybrid theatre company founded by the Quad Cities’ most prolific playwright, Alexander Richardson, will return to the stage this summer with the world premiere of “To Leer At Lear.”

This brand-new comedy takes audiences into a professional theatre company with community theatre production values, according to a recent release. In doing so, they inadvertently bring the story of the play to life.

Written and directed by Richardson, “To Leer At Lear” boasts a cast of nine Quad-City theatre regulars doing the impossible: presenting the infamous tragedy “King Lear” as a comedy.

Admission is “Pay What It’s Worth,” with patrons deciding their own price of admission.

The cast features many QC theater veterans – including Tyler Henning, Noel Huntley, Jeremy Mahr, Elane Edwards, Jack Bevans, Adrienne Jane Evans, Krissy Wheeler, Ann Keeney-Graft, and Evan Gagliardo.

“To Leer At Lear” gives audiences a behind the scenes look at a fictional theatre company, The New Dreadful Players. This imaginary troupe of disastrous artists has been featured in Richardson’s other work, most recently (a work in progress), which debuted at Playcrafters Barn Theatre in 2019.

A loving homage to community theater artists of all stripes, these characters parody many of the unfortunate flubs (intentional or otherwise) that you would see on a community stage. Like a series of live-action Muppets, these characters will reenact the plot of the Shakespeare tragedy “King Lear,” transplanting all of the political intrigue, subterfuge, and backstabbing onto these community theatre characters. This comedy has it all: puppets, bear mace, and tragedy.

Barely There Theatre is a flexible and hybrid theatre company that focuses on presenting brand new work – whether world premiere plays or classics staged in a whole new way. Beyond presenting plays on the stage, Barely There Theatre also distributes radio plays for free on most platforms where podcasts are available.

“To Leer At Leer” will open July 10 at Black Box, 1623 5th Ave., Moline.

This year, in the lead-up to the debut of “To Leer At Lear,” the company will release radio play renditions of Davenport-born playwright Susan Glaspell’s “Trifles,” T.S. Eliot’s classic poem, “The Waste Land,” and finally, William Shakespeare’s “King Lear” a couple of weeks after the closing of “To Leer At Lear.”

They will also release an audio version of their play from last year, “An All-American Riot,” for free to theatregoers who were unable to attend. The world premiere of that Richardson play was performed last September at the Black Box, also revolving around Shakespeare.

“An All-American Riot” is based on a real feud between two competing actors – England’s William Charles Macready and America’s Edwin Forrest – which served as the lightning rod for all-American outrage and rioting in the streets of New York City on May 10, 1849.

The Astor Place Riot, as it was called, was a violent episode involving thousands of people confronting a detachment of uniformed militia. According to ThoughtCo.com, more than 20 people were killed, and many more injured, when soldiers fired into an unruly crowd. Also known as “the Shakespeare riots,” this turbulence appeared to have been sparked by the presence of famed Shakespearean actor Macready at an upscale opera house. As Richardson explained, bitter rivalry with fellow actor Forrest festered until it led to violence, which mirrored deep societal divisions in the rapidly growing city.

Alex Richardson and his wife Sydney at Black Box Theatre in downtown Moline.

The creative team of “To Leer at Lear” consists of Alexander Richardson (Director/Playwright/Designer), Kori Ralston (Stage Manager/Assistant Director), Sydney Richardson (Puppet Designer), Elizabeth Melville (Costume Design), and Traci Davis (Executive Producer).

The play will be done at the Black Box Theatre, 1623 5^th Ave., Moline, on July 10, 11, 12, 17, 18, and 19. All performances begin at 7:30 p.m.

Advanced reservations are highly encouraged as capacity is limited. Tickets are a “Pay What It’s Worth” model, with all audience members admitted pending seat availability. Tickets and details can be found by visiting Barely There Theatre on Facebook (@BarelyThereTheatreQC) and Instagram (@barelytheretheatre).

For more information on the Black Box, click HERE.

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Jonathan Turner

Jonathan Turner -- who has called the Quad Cities home since 1995 -- has decades of experience as a professional journalist and pianist. His experience writing for daily newspapers, public radio and local TV encompasses a wide range of subjects, including the arts, politics, education, economic development, historic preservation, business, and tourism.

Jonathan most loves writing about music and the arts (which he now does as a freelancer for the River Cities Reader and Visit Quad Cities). He has a passion for accompanying musicals, singers, choirs and instrumentalists, including playing for QC Music Guild's 2023 productions of RENT and SWEENEY TODD. He is assistant music director and accompanist for the spring 2025 Music Guild show, ESCAPE TO MARGARITAVILLE. He wrote an original musical based on The Book of Job, which premiered at Playcrafters in 2010. Jonathan penned a 175-page history book about downtown Davenport, that was published by The History Press in 2016, and a travel guide about the QC published by Reedy Press in 2022.