Robert Menzies plays King Lear in a new production directed by Artistic Director Peter Evans. Lear’s plan to share his kingdom among his three daughters leads to disaster. “The idea of succession is huge at the moment. It’s something that never goes away, but our interest in it has been so heightened by the TV show. But it’s got to be one of the top three themes explored in Shakespeare’s plays,” says Evans. The production is presented in the intimate setting of The Neilson Nutshell in Sydney and the Fairfax Studio at Arts Centre Melbourne (25 July – 11 August). “It will be a way to explore whether it’s power that corrupts a person,” says Evans. “Can opportunity alone turn people into someone quite brutal, or is it in a person’s nature?”

Limelight Editor’s Choice

King Lear has ruled for a lifetime. He has plans for succession – the Kingdom is to be shared among his three daughters. But when he is challenged, Lear’s reaction unravels his family and ultimately the country, hurling him into a storm of rage, self-discovery, and perhaps even acceptance.

Is this Shakespeare’s great exploration of ‘filial ingratitude’? Or the sad tale of an old man in decline and the terrible choices forced upon his daughters? Is it the story of an appallingly entitled and selfish king? Or a daughter too naïve and proud to compromise for an ailing father? It is about all these things, and more. Shakespeare’s epic of the imagination, performed in the profoundly intimate setting of The Neilson Nutshell and the Fairfax Studio.

For the first time since 2010, Bell Shakespeare presents King Lear. Directed by Peter Evans and starring one of Australia’s finest classical actors Robert Menzies, this heart-wrenching new production promises to be powerful and utterly unforgettable.