King Lear: Stratford HD

"If you witnessed this King Lear onstage, the film version will reveal depths you haven’t experienced before. If you missed it last season, now’s your chance to catch great actors in a great production of a great play." - Richard Ouzounian

Part of our Stratford in Spectacular HD Summer Series

"Mounting a theatrical production on the screen is the equivalent of putting a cardiac sufferer on the treadmill: the strengths and weaknesses of the patient will quickly become obvious. There’s nowhere to hide if your actors aren’t good, your script is second rate or your design is shoddy.

"Fortunately none of that applies to King Lear, the first production from the new Stratford Festival HD series, intended to present all of Shakespeare’s plays in versions created here in Ontario.

"Thanks to Colm Feore’s profoundly human portrayal of the father who sets out to divide his kingdom among his three daughters and winds up splitting the universe wide open, this production touches our hearts in the smaller moments and breaks them in the big ones.

"Only a hybrid like Feore — who cut his teeth on Shakespeare at Stratford then went on to star as Glenn Gould and Trudeau on television then on to countless roles in big-screen epics — could manage both the depth and the breadth of this role with such complexity.

"When he rages on the heath at full volume he never seems excessive, but in the final shattering scenes of reunion with his daughter Cordelia he drinks fully from the cup of human suffering.

"Cimolino’s production has no excessive frippery about it, but it does have a relentless clarity and force that deliver the whole script Shakespeare wrote with complexity and conviction. His acting company were all excellent onstage, but some of them look even greater onscreen."

"If you witnessed this King Lear onstage, the film version will reveal depths you haven’t experienced before. If you missed it last season, now’s your chance to catch great actors in a great production of a great play."

"This is a reminder of why we preserve the theatre on film."

 All tickets $15 available at the door and in advance online.

Special Member's 'Bring a Friend' (2 For 1) ticket for $20. Limited quantities for sale online!

Reviews & Buzz

 "Now's your chance to catch great actors in a  great production of a great play" - Toronto Star

 "If you missed Colm Feore's magnificent performance last season, you've got another chance" - NOW Magazine

"This filmed version captures all the power of Antoni Cimolino's clear, muscular staging, crowned by Feore's layered Lear" - NOW Magazine

Audience Advisory
Best suited to ages 12 and up. One scene depicts an act of brutal violence.

KING LEAR BY WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE STARRING COLM FEORE MAEV BEATY EVAN BULIUNG SARA FARB JONATHAN GOAD BRAD HODDER STEPHEN OUIMETTE LIISA REPO-MARTELL SCOTT WENTWORTH

DIRECTED FOR THE STAGE BY ANTONI CIMOLINO

DIRECTED FOR FILM BY JOAN TOSONI

Showtimes: 

No screenings currently scheduled.

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