King Lear, The Globe

Following a successful tour of the UK and Europe last year, The Globe’s production of King Lear is back in London before heading across the Atlantic to the USA later in the year. 

The People...

Lear is the role that every actor of a certain age covets, and in this production the honour goes to Joseph Marcell. Best known for playing Geoffrey the butler in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, he is also no stranger to the stage or to Shakespeare, having performed in Coriolanus and Much Ado About Nothing at the Globe and even taken the role of Kent in a previous production of King Lear. Most recently he gave a stunning performance in Omeros at the Wanamaker playhouse.

Director Bill Buckhurst is a Globe regular, both as an actor and director; most recently, he has played Antipholus in The Comedy of Errors and co-directed Hamlet with the Globe’s artistic director Dominic Dromgoole. He is recognisable to most as Ronson in the latest James Bond film Skyfall. 

The Production...

This touring production is an ensemble piece at heart. The cast is made up of only eight actors who not only multi-role, but also provide all music and sound effects live. We are particularly fascinated by the double casting of Bethan Cullinane as both Cordelia and the fool: Lear’s famous line ‘my poor fool is hanged', which has inspired much critical uncertainty over whether it refers to his fool or Cordelia, becomes even more ambiguously addressed given this casting choice. 

Marcell has stated that his impressions of the play and the role of King Lear have ranged from ‘uncontrollable elation’ to ‘inconsolable depression’. These extremes of emotion (not to mention his incredibly deep and resonant voice) can only serve him well for the powerhouse performance required in King Lear and to throw off the shackles of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air once and for all.