Use this production to dissect the timeless themes of power, betrayal, and the human condition as portrayed in Shakespeare's tragic masterpiece, "King Lear," brought to life by Christopher Plummer.
The Shakespeare tragedy that gave us the expression "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child." King Lear has not one but two ungrateful children, and it's especially galling because he turned over his entire kingdom to them. Paul Scofeld is an ancient, imposing shell of a Lear tormented by his too-long life as well as by daughters he calls "unnatural hags." At one point, the king looks his eldest daughter, Goneril (Ireme Worth), straight in the eye and declares, "Thou art a boil, a plague-sore, of embossed carbuncle in my corrupted blood." These are the troubles not even the best-trained family counsellor could ever hope to resolve.
John Bell plays King Lear for Bell Shakespeare's 20th anniversary celebrations. This production was recorded at the Arts Centre in Melbourne and is hosted by Jennifer Byrne and Chris Taylor.
To celebrate Bell Shakespeare's 20th anniversary, its founder and Artistic Director John Bell plays one of the greatest roles in the Shakespearean canon in King Lear, directed by award-winning Bell Shakespeare Associate Artistic Director, Marion Potts.
When the ageing King Lear prepares to divide his kingdom, he asks his three daughters how much they love him. Two tell him what he wants to hear and the third is disinherited and banished to France. From there, it's just a short trip to total chaos.
King Lear, old and tired, divides his kingdom among his daughters, giving great importance to their protestations of love for him. When Cordelia, youngest and most honest, refuses to idly flatter the old man in return for favour, he banishes her and turns for support to his remaining daughters. But Goneril and Regan have no love for him and instead plot to take all his power from him. In a parallel, Lear's loyal courtier Gloucester favours his illegitimate son Edmund after being told lies about his faithful son Edgar. Madness and tragedy befall both ill-starred fathers.