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Post by The Doctor on Dec 20, 2010 18:52:10 GMT
I've never read/seen it, but Poundland currently have a version of it starring the mighty Brian Blessed so I had to pick it up.
Has anyone any experience of King Lear?
-Ralph
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Post by blueshift on Dec 20, 2010 19:43:13 GMT
I've never read/seen it, but Poundland currently have a version of it starring the mighty Brian Blessed so I had to pick it up. Has anyone any experience of King Lear? -Ralph Lear is a rather enjoyable Shakespear play, and has one of the few scenes in anything that genuinely horrifies me using language alone ("Out vile jelly!"  ) |
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Dec 21, 2010 8:15:15 GMT
Just seen it once (in the theatre with Ian McKellan as Lear and Sylvester McCoy as his fool). Lear is the role that actors see as the ultimate challenge in their twilight years (as Hamlet is for younger actors). Done well, it really requires emotional stamina on the part of both the audience and the actor. McKellen was up to it. I'm not convinced that Blessed has the emotional range, but you'll have to let us know about that. Derek Jacobi is getting hugely positive reviews for his current sold-out run of Lear ( 1, 2, 3), with tickets going for hundreds of pounds. But we can all see it at cinemas on 3 February thanks to the wonder that is National Theatre Live. Ralph, I would strongly suggest that if Blessed's Lear leaves you unmoved it will be down to the actor rather than the play, and you should give Jacobi a go in February. Martin |
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Post by Grand Moff Muffin on Feb 4, 2011 7:48:13 GMT
David Jacobi's Lear, viewed last night through the miracle of National Theatre Live, was superb.
(Mind you, the satellite did cut out three quarters of the way through, causing them to pause the theatre performance until it was back up and then start again from the beginning of the scene, but the cast did it with apparent good will.)
Martin
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