King Lear National Theatre Live

Performance Dates

June 26, 2022 1:00 PM

Location

PNC Theatre

PLEASE NOTE: THIS IS A FILMED PRODCTION SHOWN ON THE BIG SCREEN.

By William Shakespeare

★★★★★ ‘Ian McKellen reigns supreme in this triumphant production.’ (Daily Telegraph)

Captured live from London’s West End in 2018, see Ian McKellen’s ‘extraordinarily moving portrayal’ (Independent) of King Lear in cinemas.

Considered by many to be the greatest tragedy ever written, King Lear sees two ageing fathers – one a King, one his courtier – reject the children who truly love them.  Their blindness unleashes a tornado of pitiless ambition and treachery, as family and state are plunged into a violent power struggle with bitter ends.

Jonathan Munby directs this ‘nuanced and powerful’ (The Times) contemporary retelling of Shakespeare’s tender, violent, moving and shocking play.

National Theatre Live brings the best of British theatre to cinema screens across the UK and around the world. With state-of-the-art filming techniques, tailored to every play, they showcase each performance as it happens, in all its glory. From close-ups that capture every flicker of emotion, to sweeping wide shots of the stage.

NT Live films their plays in front of a live theatre audience, but optimises everything for the big screen so it’s the next best thing to being there. The actors on stage deliver their performances as they normally would any other night. But to make sure audiences watching in cinema have the best seat in the house, they tailor the position of their cameras to capture each production and work closely with technical teams to make sure every element on stage such as lighting, hair and make-up look fantastic on the big screen.