WATERBURY — Shakesperience Productions, Inc., a professional theater company located in downtown Waterbury, has announced events planned for the 2014 summer season. As part of its summer schedule, the company will be in Sandy Hook offering a performance of King Lear at McLaughlin Vineyard on Saturday, August 23.

The Blinding Truth Talk Tour will begin May 27 at Silas Bronson Library, 276 Grand Street in Waterbury, and continue through June 27 at various locations. Most talks will be Tuesdays and Thursdays, from noon to 1 pm; the final two at Silas Bronson Library, will be June 26 at 6 pm and June 27 at 4 pm.

Shakesperience Artistic Director Emily Mattina and Actor-Director Dr David Richman will discuss their vivid and thought-provoking production of King Lear, which explores the choices parents make for their children and family, as well as the overall physical, emotional, and educational welfare of children.

The Shakesperience production of King Lear has been co-adapted by Ms Mattina and Dr Richman. Dr Richman, who has been blind since birth, will join Ms Mattina in exploring the literal and metaphorical essence of blindness to one’s actions, consequences, and blessings.

Performances of King Lear will then be at Library Park, Waterbury, June 26-29; and Shakespeare on the Shoreline, in Guilford, August 6-10.

Performances will be Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm, and Sunday at 2 pm. Suggested donation is $15 per person.

There will also be a matinee performance of Kenneth Grahame’s The Reluctant Dragon on Saturday, June 28, at 10 am, followed by Our City, Our Neighborhoods at noon, also in Waterbury’s Library Park. Picnicking will begin a half hour before the performances and a $15 donation is suggested. 

On July 19, Shakesperience will begin Vintage Shakesperience, its tour of wine vineyards and other venues across the region, beginning with Much Ado About… Something at Miranda Vineyard, Goshen.

This series will continue with is a performance of The Reluctant Dragon at White Silo Winery, Sherman, August 2; and the aforementioned King Lear in Sandy Hook on August 23, at 4 pm. Rain dates for many of the performances are scheduled for the following day.

Tickets for Vintage Shakesperience performances are $15 for adults, $10 ages 12 and under, and $40 for a family of four.

Shakesperience Productions, Inc. is a professional theatre company located in downtown Waterbury, Connecticut and touring throughout the Northeast to an audience of adults and students alike with School and Public Performance Tours, Acting Intensives, Residencies, Shakespeare in Library Park, and the Spring and Fall Festivals of Theatre. 

For more information about programs and locations, or to purchase tickets, visit www.shakesperience.org, find the company on Facebook, or call 203-754-2531.