STRATFORD-UPON-AVON, England: By imagining King Lear’s age as “four score and upward,” Shakespeare gave an end-of-career ring to a taxing role that he could hardly have written for octogenarian actors. After all, Richard Burbage, the star of Shakespeare’s company, the King’s Men, was only 39 when he created the part in 1606. And centuries later, in the 1960s, Paul Scofield was a memorable Lear at just 40.
Yet what makes many regard “King Lear” as Shakespeare’s greatest mature tragedy is its unforgiving portrayal of an old man raging against the gods as his power, sanity and life gradually expire. And since actors too suffer the agues of aging, it is always touching to watch a master of the stage take on the role in the autumn of his career. [More]
Category: Ian McKellen
Stage and screen star Ian McKellen will speak at the Guthrie Theater on Oct. 8 as part of the theater’s Global Voices program. McKellen, who will appear at the Guthrie with he Royal Shakespeare Company’s productions of “King Lear” and “The Seagull” in October, has appeared in the Broadway productions of “Amadeus” and “Dance of Death” as well as the films “God and Monsters, “Lord of the Rings” and “X-Men.” He also has won Tony, Olivier, Screen Actors Guild. [More]
Lee writes: In this week’s New Yorker magazine there is a very long article on Ian McKellen. There’s only a mention of his role as Gandalf; they aren’t really interested in that. But for his fans, or those interested in the theatre or acting, this article seems like a must-read. It has a lot of information and analysis I haven’t seen in other pieces on him. Their web site has a picture of the issue, and its table of contents, but to read the article you need to buy the magazine. [More]
Proving his acting repertoire is not restricted to the highbrow, Sir Ian McKellen is planning to make a brief appearance in popular Kiwi soap Shortland Street. McKellen has been playing the title role of King Lear in Auckland with the Royal Shakespeare Company as part of a five-nation tour but is hoping to swap his crown for hospital scrubs on the “Shortie” set on Monday, The New Zealand Herald reported on Saturday. The 68-year-old star, who played Gandalf in The Lord of the Rings, may appear in a walk-on role, possibly as a nurse or hospital cleaner, after saying he had always wanted to star in the medical drama. [More]
On Saturday night Sir Ian McKellen entered the stage at Auckland’s ASB Theatre as a regal king draped in ceremonial costume. He left as a broken man, in an unequivocal and heart rendering performance as King Lear, a monarch whose course of suffering is sparked by his blind, proud affection for his three daughters. From the elaborate opening scene, McKellen and his velvet-gravel voice carry the audience through Lear’s journey of sadness and disbelief at the betrayal of his two eldest daughters, through the haze of madness, to new hope in his youngest child, then down to the deep pit of eventual despair. It was a gripping ride. [More]
Mary writes: Ian McKellen will be interviewed on September 17 in New York at the Times Center. The interview will be followed by a wine reception & tickets are only $25. [More]