King Lear

Synopsis: Video recording using a single camera of a performance of King Lear, directed by Helena Kaut-Howson, and performed by the Young Vic/IP Productions at the Young Vic theatre, London, in August 1997. The production was notable for casting a woman (Kathryn Hunter) as Lear.
Language: English
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Video
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Recording date: 1 Aug 1997
Duration: 301 mins
Availability: REFERENCE ONLY

Theatre: Young Vic Theatre
Production type: Stage Recordings
Plays: King Lear
Subjects: Drama
Keywords: drama in English; performances; Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Gender reversal

History: First performed at the Haymarket Theatre, Leicester in March 1997.
Reviews: Kelly, Philippa ‘See What Breeds About Her Heart: King Lear, Feminism and Performance’ Renaissance Drama 33 (2004), pp137-57. [Questions what makes a production ‘feminist’ and looks at three feminist reconfigurations of King Lear - Victoria Morgan’s ballet, Lear, Jane Smiley’s novel A Thousand Acres (later adapted into a film) and productions directed by Helena Kaut-Howson and Maureen Shea which cast Lear as a woman.

Kathryn Hunter	Lear
Hayley Carmichael	Cordelia
Rob Pickavance	Earl of Gloucester
Marcello Magni	Fool
Simon Roberts	Edgar, later disguised as Tom o’Bedlam
Colin McCormack	Earl of Kent
David Actor	Duke of Albany
Gabrielle Reidy	Regan
Glynn Pritchard	Duke of Cornwall
Jeremy Brudenell	Edmund
Jonas Finlay	Curan
Jonas Finlay	Duke of Burgundy
Kate Seaward	Goneril
Michael Hodgson	King of France
Nick Cavaliere	Oswald

British Universities Film & Video Council