King Lear - Full Play

16.07.2023

King Lear is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane and a proscribed crux of political machinations.

The first known performance of any version of Shakespeare's play was on Saint Stephen's Day in 1606. The three extant publications from which modern editors derive their texts are the 1608 quarto (Q1) and the 1619 quarto (Q2, unofficial and based on Q1) and the 1623 First Folio. The quarto versions differ significantly from the folio version.

The play was often revised after the English Restoration for audiences who disliked its dark and depressing tone, but since the 19th century Shakespeare's original play has been regarded as one of his supreme achievements.

Both the title role and the supporting roles have been coveted by accomplished actors, and the play has been widely adapted. 

In his A Defence of Poetry, Percy Bysshe Shelley called King Lear "the most perfect specimen of the dramatic art existing in the world", and the play is regularly cited as one of the greatest works of literature ever written.

Synopsis:

King Lear divides his kingdom among the two daughters who flatter him and banishes the third one who loves him. 

His eldest daughters both then reject him at their homes, so Lear goes mad and wanders through a storm. His banished daughter returns with an army, but they lose the battle and Lear, all his daughters and more, die.

The Play:

Directed by David Schwingle Set and Costume Design by Jeffrey Stegall Lighting design by Richard Streeter Music by Kenon Renfrow.

The Movie:

Laurence Olivier and John Hurt played respectively Lear and the Fool in this production to great acclaim, winning an Emmy for his performance. It was the last of Olivier's appearances in a Shakespeare play. At 75, he was one of the oldest actors to take on this enormously demanding role. (He had previously played Lear in 1946 at the Old Vic).

CAST 

Laurence Olivier — King Lear

Colin Blakely — Earl of Кеnt

Anna Calder-Marshall — Cordelia, King Lear's daughter

Jeremy Kemp — Duke of Cornwall

Robert Lang — Duke of Albany

Robert Lindsay — Edmund, Gloucester's son

Leo McKern — Earl of Gloucester

David Threlfall — Edgar, Gloucester's son

Dorothy Tutin — Goneril, King Lear's daughter

John Hurt — Fool

Diana Rigg — Regan, King Lear's daughter

Brian Cox — Duke of Burgundy

Edward Petherbridge — King of France

Geoffrey Bateman — Oswald