Comments on: Introduction

By: Borden

Borden — Mon, 11 May 2009 19:26:18 +0000

Hi. In the future I’m going to keep here links to their sites. But I do not worry about the sites where my link is removed. So if you do not want to see a mountain of links, simply delete this message. After 2 weeks, I will come back and check.

By: The English Teacher Blog » Blog Archive » King Lear and the Folger

The English Teacher Blog » Blog Archive » King Lear and the Folger — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:59:49 +0000

[...] March 25, PBS airs Trevor Nunn’s production of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s King Lear, originally staged in Stratford-upon-Avon in the spring of 2007. “Today, advances in [...]

By: Carl from California

Carl from California — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 23:08:17 +0000

I got the DVD, and much to my surprise, there is NOT an option for captions. Sorry. PBS, advisory: put in captions option, particularly when you’re dealing with archaic language, and people who can’t enunciate (Sylvester Mccoy is a fine actor, but we had difficulty hearing bits of his dialogue in both the live and DVD versions), and for people who are auditorially impaired

By: Blind Guy

Blind Guy — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 02:45:15 +0000

Cast
King Lear – Ian McKellen
Goneril – Frances Barber
Regan – Monica Dolan
Cordelia – Romola Garai
Albany – Julian Harries
Cornwall – Guy Williams
Gloucester – William Gaunt
Edgar – Ben Meyjes
Edmund – Philip Winchester
Kent – Jonathon Hyde
Fool – Sylvester McCoy

By: Daniel Angus Cox

Daniel Angus Cox — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 23:50:12 +0000

Thank you PBS for making this available. I was glued to my TV by this performance. Amazing work not only by McKellen(Gandalf, Magneto) but supporting cast as well. Sylvester McCoy(Doctor Who)will surprise you, as well as Phillip Hincliffe(Robinson Crusoe). If you’ve only seen these actors in their movie and film roles then be prepared for a real treat. Well filmed and makes you feel you are there in the theater, and superbly directed by the always brilliant Trevor Nunn. Some of the best acting I have ever seen. All serious actors should want to study this. See it soon if you can.

By: Denise Lundy

Denise Lundy — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 13:34:12 +0000

What a brilliant production! I have HD & felt like I was there with the cast. As usual Sir Ian has outdone himself and the rest of the cast was fabulous. Costumes, etc. just can’t rave enough. This should be made available to the English Depts. in US Schools. While reading the play was great, IwWish we had had this media of this quality in the 70’s to bring these plays to life.
Note to Glen: This is Shakespeare. How impudent of you to expect King Lear to be watered down for children (who are too young to get it anyway). Would you have them put jocky shorts on David?

By: Sean

Sean — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:59:50 +0000

Wonderful!

This is the PBS I miss a lot. I remember waiting every week to watch productions such as this. I recall Keith Mitchell in a scaled down ‘Henry VIII’ and Glenda Jackson in ‘Elizabeth R’.

Watching this production of ‘King Lear’ reminds me how great PBS was, and how it did not try to compete with cable and network TV productions.

Thank you to those involved in this production for proving a scaled down production is just as great as overproduced film and television shows.

As for the actors, all of them are great and have a startling grasp of their craft.

It would be wonderful if PBS decided to stage Dame Anna Massey’s ‘Daunt and Dervish’. Ms. Massey is a marvellous actress.

Nonetheless, why are there no more programs like ‘King Lear’? Where are Dame Kiri Te Kanawa’s operas? I could list more PBS used to be hailed for. Now PBS looks too much like every station on the television and hard-sells us all every chance it can. Believe me, if I like what I see on PBS – I’ll buy it! I do not need well groomed talking heads trying to sell me something every five minutes. Still, thank you for this look back at PBS has it used to be.

Thank you for your time.

***Typo Corrected***

By: Sean

Sean — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 01:50:57 +0000

Wonderful!

This is the PBS I miss a lot. I remember waiting every week to watch productions such as this. I recall Keith Mitchell in a scaled down ‘Henry VIII’ and Glenda Jackson in ‘Elizabeth R’.

Watching this production of ‘King Lear’ reminds me how great PBS was, and how it did not try to compete with cable and network TV productions.

Thank you to those involved in this production for proving a scaled down production is just as great as overproduced film and television shows.

As for the actors, all of them are great and have a startling grasp of their craft.

It would be wonderful if PBS decided to stage Dame Anna Massey’s ‘Daunt and Dervish’. Ms. Massey is a marvellous actress.

Nonetheless, why are there no more programs like ‘King Lear’? Where are Dame Kiri Te Kanawa’s operas? I could list more PBS used to be hailed for. Now PBS looks too much like every station on the television and hard-sells us all every chance it can. Believe me, if I like what I see on PBS – I’ll buy it! I do not need to be well groomed talking heads trying to sell me something every five minutes. Still, thank you for this look back at PBS has it used to be.

Thank you for your time.

By: Carl from California

Carl from California — Sun, 29 Mar 2009 00:06:13 +0000

If you could’t follow the dialogue, get the DVD. It will have the option of captions. It’s also a very involved story, with many sub-stories. I recommended to the folks that attended the live version with me to read the Charles and Mary Lamb “Tales from Shakespeare” version of Lear. It tells the story in prose, so you know who is who.

By: Libby Dornbush

Libby Dornbush — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 12:16:00 +0000

My husband and I watched….or should I say “struggled to watch”….King Lear Wednesday night. Unfortunately, we are both hard of hearing. The station volume seemed to be turned very low and the closed captionning was useless…just a quick flashing by of most of the lines. We do know Lear well enough to follow it and a superb production it was, but the careless presentation by WGBH practically ruined it as a theatrical event.