King Lear

Synopsis: Video recording, using a single, fixed camera of Yellow Earth Theatre with Shanghai Dramatic Arts Centre’s production of King Lear directed by David K.S. Tse with Chinese movie star Zhou Ye Mang as Lear. Lear hands over control of his global business empire to his daughters. In his Shanghai penthouse, he asks them to justify their inheritance. The older sisters flatter their father in elegant Chinese but English-educated Cordelia, no longer fluent in her father’s tongue, says ‘Nothing’. Using video, music and aerial work, the production addresses the miscommunication that arises from migration and Lear’s search for Taoist enlightenment.
Language: Chinese - Mandarin (PRC)
Country: Great Britain
Medium: Video
Technical information: Colour / Sound
Recording date: 16 Nov 2006
Duration: 120 (inc. interval).

Director

David K.S. Tse

Music

Wang Jiwei; Wang Jiwel

Production Design

Sang Qi

Cast

Zhou Ye Mang	Lear
Nina Kwok	Cordelia
David Yip	Earl of Gloucester
Daniel York	Edgar, later disguised as Tom o’Bedlam
Daniel York	Duke of Cornwall
David Yip	Duke of Albany
He Ju	Earl of Kent
Matt McCooey	Edmund
Nina Kwok	Oswald
Xie Li	Regan
Zhang Lu	Goneril

Theatre: Cube, The
Theatre company: Yellow Earth Theatre
Production type: Stage Recordings
Historical period: Contemporary
Plays: King Lear
Subjects: Drama
Keywords: Shakespeare, William (1564-1616); Multicultural casting; Doubling of roles; Complete Works Festival (Stratford upon Avon 2006-7); Multimedia productions

Notes: Spoken in English and Mandarin with English surtitles.

Streamed at http://globalshakespeares.mit.edu/king-lear-tse-david-2006 (accessed 8/2013)

The production may be accessed online at http://web.mit.edu/shakespeare/asia (accessed 10.2010).
General: From 25 October-18 November 2006 the auditorium of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre was transformed into an intimate 100 seat studio space.
History: The production ran 15-18 November 2006 at The Cube as part of the Complete Works Festival.
Textual information: Chinese translation by Zhu Sheng Hao
Reviews: Theatre Journal, Volume 59, Number 3, October 2007, pp. 494-495.

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