‘King Lear’ gets a fresh look with star Joseph Marcell

Joseph Marcell (right) sat down with artistic director Steven Maler and talked about demystifying the Bard.Mike Ritter

You may recognize the star of the new production of Shakespeare’s “King Lear” at the Emerson/Paramount Center Mainstage. The mad monarch is played by Joseph Marcell, who’s best known as Geoffrey the butler on TV’s “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.” At Roxbury Community College the other night, Marcell sat down with Commonwealth Shakespeare artistic director Steven Maler and talked about demystifying the Bard. “King Lear,” presented by ArtsEmerson, runs Oct. 15-23.