Lear Theater

Back in February 2013, when I first visited Reno, seeing the Lear Theater downtown helped solidify my sense that Reno had a good arts and culture scene and thus could be a very decent place to live. I didn’t know then that the Lear Theater had been closed since 2002. Nevertheless, the building was attractive and prominently located on Riverside Dr. and seemed to bode good things.
The theater remains closed, but I have had the pleasure of seeing the Merry War Theater Group perform outdoor Shakespeare on the steps and front lawn of the Lear for two summers now, and damn do they do an excellent job of making the space work for them. Big trees provide nice shade for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday evening performances. The set construction uses well the front porch and side lawn. And alleyway: a character always needs to make an entrance on a motorcycle! The tickets are $ 5 suggested donation and one can picnic in the audience area before the show. Chase McKenna is a genius at making classic Shakespeare fun: in 2014 «A Midsummer Night’s Dream» had Burners as fairies and in 2015 «Much Ado About Nothing» was set in Texas. So much fun! The cast always does a great job including music and physical comedy in the performance, too.
I understand that TEDxReno took place in the Lear in 2014. Maybe in the future more good things besides Merry War’s summer productions will happen! But I hear there is also an unfortunate history of failed attempts to restore the Lear. So… yeah. Nevertheless: four stars for an aesthetically pleasing exterior and for being a great site for outdoor Shakespeare.