National Theatre Live: King Lear With Sir Ian McKellen
Wed. March 20, 2024 at 6:30pm
by William Shakespeare
directed by Jonathan Munby
A production from Chichester Festival Thteatre
Running time: Approx. 3 hours 40 mins, including a 20-min interval
Please note:
The performance of King Lear
will contain strobe lighting
By Fergal Keane, from "King Lear and our age of uncertainty"
Furious tempests rise above the seas and sweep over nations. The winds howl and waters rise. Above the maelstrom we hear the cries of vain patriarchs and scheming children. Great armies stand ready to make war. Blind warriors stumble in the encroaching gloom. Greed and overweening ambition proliferate.
Welcome to the 21st century and “the time’s plague, when madmen lead the blind.”
We do not need to cast around to find a contemporary playwright with the dramatic vision to capture the immensity of our current discontents. The play to match the hour was written long ago. More than ever we must address ourselves to King Lear’s central concern: the imperative of seeing things as they really are in times when truth is being trampled underfoot.
I have traveled the world’s conflict zones for around 25 years and seen my share of foolish rulers and treacherous killers. Yet this current time when so much madness and lying trembles our days is the most frightening I have known. In the words of Lear, the most compelling of all Shakespeare’s tragic figures, we are stumbling on a “great stage of fools.”
Cast, in alphabetical order
Regan: Kirsty Bushell
Gentleman Informer /Old Man: Richard Clews
Edmund: James Corrigan
Kent: Sinéad Cusack
Curan / Doctor: John Hastings
Albany: Anthony Howell
Fool: Lloyd Hutchinson
Burgundy / Lear’s Knight /Monsieur La Far: Jake Mann
Oswald: Michael Matus
King Lear: Ian McKellen
Goneril: Claire Price
Cornwall: Daniel Rabin
King of France /British Captain: Caleb Roberts
Albany’s Man: Scott Sparrow
Edgar: Luke Thompson
Cordelia: Anita-Joy Uwajeh
Gloucester: Danny Webb
Ensemble: James Millard, Johanne Murdock, Jessica Murrain, John Vernon
Supernumeraries: Charlie Bentley, Leon Finnan,Jamal Franklin, Sonny Poon Tip,
Sam Purkis
Director: Jonathan Munby
Designer: Paul Willis
Lighting Designer: Oliver Fenwick
Composition and Sound: Ben and Max Ringham
Movement Director: Lucy Cullingford
Casting Director: Anne McNulty CDG
Fight Director: Kate Waters
Director for Screen: Ross MacGibbon
Technical Producer: Christopher C Bretnall
Script Supervisor: Claire Mathais
Lighting Director: Mike Le Fevre
Sound Supervisor: Conrad Fletcher
Chichester Festival Theatre is one of the UK’s flagship theatres, renowned for the exceptionally high standard of its productions as well as its work with the community and young people. Situated in West Sussex between the South Downs and the sea, the Festival Theatre’s bold thrust-stage design makes it one of England’s most striking playhouses; our studio theatre, the Minerva Theatre, sits nearby.
The annual Festival season runs from April to November, offering new plays, classic dramas and musicals. Productions originated at Chichester frequently transfer to London; King Lear is presented in the West End in association with ATG.
cft.org.uk
facebook/chichesterfestivaltheatre
@ChichesterFT
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