Stacy Keach on 'King Lear'

Keach narrates a slide show of his performance in King Lear.

by: Steve Mencher, from: AARP, July 21, 2009

This slide show from the Washington, D.C. production of "King Lear" contains some violent images and should only be viewed by mature audiences. This is the play, after all, where the Earl of Gloucester's eyes are ripped out of his head, and the king's sweetest daughter becomes a war victim.

Video Excerpts From the Prime Time Radio Interview, Plus Selections From the Production. Watch

The Complete Prime Time Radio Interview. Listen

The MIT Online Edition of King Lear. Read

A Review of the Washington Production of King Lear, by Washington Post Theater Critic Peter Marks. Read

SPECIAL THANKS

The Shakespeare Theatre Company, Washington, D.C., and Amy Scott-Douglass

Stacy Keach has come to Lear at the perfect time in his life and career. As "Prime Time Radio" host Mike Cuthbert says in a separate interview, "Hamlet" is now behind him and Prospero is, perhaps, to come. But the angry, proud, and violent king, betrayed by his two venal daughters, suits Keach now.

As you'll see, this "King Lear" takes place in a vague region of the Balkans—a place dominated by strongmen and ethnic cleansing. Whether Lear is Tito or Ceausescu hardly matters. We are in a time in the last century when things are falling apart. As usual, Shakespeare has seen around the corner, into the future.