MIDDLETOWN - An elderly King Lear decides he wants to retire from his kingship responsibilities but still retain the power and authority of being king. He decides to divide his estate between his three daughters, based on how they prove their love for him. After hearing the flattery of two daughters, he disinherits the third, Cordelia, who truly loves him, even before she speaks. What happens to Cordelia? How do the other two daughters respond to their father? Does he discover Cordelia’s love is true? Do they reconcile?

       This Shakespearean tragedy, King Lear, will be performed in ARTFARM Theater’s ninth season of presenting Shakespeare in The Grove at Middlesex Community College, and directed by Marcella Trowbridge, artistic director of the theater. Performances will begin at 7 p.m., and run from July 17 to 27. Tickets are $20 for adults and $10 for students.

       The role of King Lear will be played by John Basinger, a Middletown actor and theater teacher who toured with the National Theater of the Deaf and taught at Three Rivers Community College. He has also appeared in movies and written and directed plays.

       He played a role described as â€�"The King,” a one-character play who speaks only Lear’s lines, at Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater in 2012.

       King Lear has been funded by the Middletown Commission on the Arts and Pratt and Whitney in Middletown.

       Basinger called the play â€�"powerful” but flawed, in that it tells two stories in one play. Basinger said that Shakespeare â€�"is able to create a world of people in situations that are absolutely true across the world.”

       Basinger said he likes presenting the play in The Grove because â€�"it provides a greater and more open space” than in an enclosed theater, and â€�"it can involve the audience.”

       Trowbridge added that â€�"The Grove is truly a hidden gem in central Connecticut. Folks bring blankets or chairs and picnics, sit on the lovely grassy slope, listen to music and watch the play unfold in front of a row of cedar trees with forest to the audiences’ right. It is about 10 degrees cooler in the evening.”

       This â€�"epic drama...holds the potential to resonate for so many. We, the audience, have the opportunity to reflect on our own loves, losses, regrets, hopes and sorrows,” said Trowbridge. â€�"This is part of what Shakespeare does, and what ARTFARM is dedicated to--being a reflection of the human condition.

       â€�"What can we learn from King Lear and his daughters,” posed Trowbridge â€�"from his decisions, his mistakes and his love? How can the timelessness of Shakespeare affect the human heart? As an artist, this is, I feel, our role in society--to ask these kinds of questions, to encourage us to open up, to feel, to be real...real human beings in development.”

       For many decades, opinion about this play has been divided. The play has been revised to have a happier ending, but since the 19th century, the original version by Shakespeare has been regarded by many critics as â€�"one of his supreme achievements, noted for its probing observations on the nature of human suffering and kinship.”

       George Bernard Shaw wrote, â€�"No man will ever write a better tragedy than Lear.”

       Special events will run before the play. One will be a guided trail walk led by Connecticut Forest and Park Association before the Sunday, July 20, performance. A scholar lecturer on King Lear, Professor John Klause, will speak Tuesday, July 22. Friday, July 25, there will a post-show Talk Back with Director and Cast.

       Middlesex Community College is located at 100 Training Hill Rd., Middletown. For information, contact info@art-farm.org or call 860-346-4390.