Internet Shakespeare Editions

Shakespeare in Performance: Film

King Lear (1973, Edward Sherin)

TitleKing Lear
Year1973
Release LocationsUSA
DirectorEdward Sherin
MediumColor video
Length2 hrs
LanguagesEnglish
Audiencegeneral public
Play ConnectionsKing Lear (teleplay)

Description

A record of a 1973 New York Shakespeare Festival production at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park, this unusual version of King Lear starred leading black American actor, James Earl Jones, as the old king. Shakespeare in the park, as probably everyone knows, offers free Shakespeare to citizens willing to stand in line and wait for tickets. Reviews of the original stage production were a mixture of favorable and unfavorable, though most found Jones's performance intriguing. Currently it is not in distribution

Description from Shakespeare on Screen : an International Filmography and Videography by Kenneth S. Rothwell and Annabelle Henkin Melzer. ©1990 Kenneth S. Rothwell. Cited by permission. — Added 2008-11-14

Cast Overview

King LearJames Earl Jones
GonerilRosalind Cash
ReganEllen Holly
FoolTom Aldredge
CordeliaLee Chamberlin
FranceJean-Pierre Stewart
BurgundyLouis Quinones
CornwallRobert Lanchester
AlbanyRobert Stattel
KentDouglas Watson
GloucesterPaul Sorvino
EdgarRene Auberjonois
EdmundRaul Julia
OswaldFrederick Coffin

Production Team and Crew Overview

DirectorEdward Sherin
ProducerBernard Gersten
ProducerJoseph Papp
ComposerCharles Gross
Stage ManagerJason Steven Cohen
CostumesTheoni V. Aldridge
LightingMartin Aaronson
SetSanto Loquasto

Company Overview

Playgroup New York Shakespeare Festival

Production information courtesy of: Kenneth Rothwell