The Glenda Jackson-led King Lear, which is currently playing to much acclaim at London’s Old Vic, is eyeing a Broadway bow. According to the Daily Mail, the production, which additionally stars Rhys Ifans, Jane Horrocks and more, could also transfer to the West End. The current limited engagement is scheduled to run through December 3.
When King Lear divides his kingdom among his daughters, he sets in motion a cascade of violence that sweeps the civilized world to the brink of chaos, and Lear himself to the edge of madness.
Directed by Deborah Warner, two-time Oscar winner Jackson (Women in Love, A Touch of Class) takes on the title role in Shakespeare’s classic, along with Ifans as Fool, Horrocks as Regan, Celia Imrie as Goneril, Morfydd Clark as Cordelia, William Chubb as Albany, Simon Manyonda as Edmond, Harry Melling as Edgar, Gary Sefton as Oswald and Clifford Rose as Old Man.
King Lear was last seen on Broadway in 2004, headlined by Christopher Plummer. Jackson has received four Tony nods, for Macbeth, Strange Interlude, Rose and The Persecution and Assassination of Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade.