King Lear

King Lear, old and tired, divides his kingdom among his daughters, giving great importance to their protestations of love for him. When Cordelia, youngest and most honest, refuses to idly flatter the old man in return for favor, he banishes her and turns for support to his remaining daughters. But Goneril and Regan have no love for him and instead plot to take all his power from him. In a parallel, Lear's loyal courtier Gloucester favors his illegitimate son Edmund after being told lies about his faithful son Edgar. Madness and tragedy befall both ill-starred fathers.

Michael Hordern

King Lear

Brenda Blethyn

Cordelia

John Shrapnel

Earl of Kent

Norman Rodway

Earl of Gloucester

Michael Kitchen

Edmund

Gillian Barge

Goneril

Penelope Wilton

Regan

John Bird

Duke of Albany

Julian Curry

Duke of Cornwall

David Weston

Duke of Burgundy

Harry Waters

King of France

Anton Lesser

Edgar

John Grillo

Oswald

Iain Armstrong

First Gentleman

Frank Middlemass

Fool

Ken Stott

Curan

Stuart Blake

First Servant

Tony Sympson

Second Servant