Lear

Synopsis: A video recording, using a single, fixed camera, of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s 1983 production of Edward Bond’s play, directed by Barry Kyle with Bob Peck as Lear. ‘In Bond’s play, Lear is a paranoid autocrat, building a wall to keep out imagined "enemies". His daughters Bodice and Fontanelle rebel against him, causing a bloody and atrocity-ridden war. Lear becomes their prisoner and goes on a journey of self-revelation. He is blinded and haunted by the ghost of a Gravedigger’s Boy, whose kindness towards the old King led to his murder. Eventually Lear, after becoming a prophet reminiscent of Leo Tolstoy, makes a gesture towards dismantling the wall he began. This gesture leads to his death, which offers hope as an example of practical activism’. [Wikipedia.com]
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Video
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Subjects: Drama
Keywords: Shakespeare, William (1564-1616)

Director

Barry Kyle

Writer

Edward Bond

Music

Ilona Sekacz

Production Design

Kit Surrey

Cast

Name: Royal Shakespeare Company
Web: https://www.rsc.org.uk External site opens in new window
Address: Royal Shakespeare Theatre
Waterside
Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire
CV37 6BB

British Universities Film & Video Council