King Lear
Dates of performance
January 1966
Overview
Lear King of Britain, being old, decides to divide his kingdom among hoe three daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia, but because Cordelia, the youngest finds out she is unable to make a public profession of her love for him, he disinherits her and banishes Kent fro protesting. The King of France marries the dowerless Cordelia, and Lear divides the kingdom between Goneril and Regan and their husbands Albany and Cornwall, though Lear retains the title of King. The two elder daughters refuse to have their father with his retinue of as hundred knights in their homes, and Lear, broken by their hard hearts and ingratitude, goes out into the storm, where he losses his reason. There he meets the apparently mad Edgar, the son of Gloucester, who has banished him owing to the evil machinations of his other illegitimate son, Edmund. The distinguished Kent and Gloucester assist Lear, and for this Gloucester is binded by Cornwall. Edgar the n guides his father towards Dover, where Cordelia has landed with French troops in support of her father; Kent does the same for Lear. There is a tender reconciliation between Lear and Cordelia, but in the battle they are defeated and captured, Cordelia being hanged by order of Edmund. For love of Edmund, Goneril poisons Regan, but when he is killed in combat with his brother Edgar, she stabs herself. Edgar reveals how his father died when he discovered who Edgar was. Lear then comes in with Cordelia dead in his arms, and he dies, imagining her to be alive. Like Gloucester, his strange hearts burst “twixt two extremes of passion, joy and grief” Albany, reformed, is left to govern the kingdom.
Cast List
| KING LEAR | King of Scotland | JOHAN NELL |
| KING OF FRANCE | ROY SEARLE | |
| DUKE OF BURGANDY | ROGER SPENCE | |
| DUKE OF CORNWALL | MICHAEL FISHER | |
| DUKE OF ALBANY | ROBERT DEL KYRKE | |
| EARL OF KENT | WILL JAMIESON | |
| EARL OF GLOUCESTER | LIMPIE BASSON | |
| EDGAR | Son of Gloucester | MICHAEL NEWELL |
| EDMUND | Bastard son of Gloucester | ROBIN MALAN |
| FOOL | MICKEY VAN DER WESTHUIZEN | |
| OLD MAN | Tenant to Gloucester | JOEY WISHNIA |
| DOCTOR | ROY SEARLE | |
| OSWALD | Steward to Goneril | ROGER SPENCE |
| KNIGHT TO LEAR | DAVID GOATHAM | |
| LEARS ATTENDANT | RONALD FENTON | |
| CORDELIAS ATTENDANT | PHILIP GRAHAM | |
| CORNWALLS SERVANT | RONALD FENTON | |
| MESSENGERS | RICHARD CANN & DAVID GOATHAM | |
| CAPTAIN | RICHARD CANN | |
| HERALD | PHILIP GRAHAM | |
| ALBANY’S ERVANT | RICHARD WATERMEYER | |
| GONERIL | Daughter to Lear | MARGARET HEALE |
| REGAN | Daughter to Lear | ANNE GARBETT |
| CORDELIA | Daughter to Lear | JUDITH GIBSON |
Creative List
| STAGE DIRECTOR | JOEY WISHNIA |
| STAGE MANAGERS | PADDY SKILDER |
| ASSISTANT STAGE MANAGER | AVRIL BEA |
| WARDROBE MISTRESS | RUTH VAN ASWEGEN |
| ASSISTANT WARDROBE MISTRESS | ANN WILKINSON |
| COSTUMES | MICHAEL BRETTON (DESIGN) JENNIFER CRAIG (MANUFACTURE) |
| SET | MICHAEL NEWELL |
| HEADRESSES AND ARMOUR | CHRIS VAN NIEKERK & CRAIG CURTIS |
| SOUND DIRECTOR | ERIC MORRISON |
| MUSIC RECORDING | JACK BURT |
