The most highly anticipated Shakespeare performance will now soon be seen in more than 300 theaters worldwide. This February Sir Derek Jacobi’s version of King Lear will be filmed by the Donmar Warehouse and be broadcast live.
It’s like bringing in millions of people to the Donmar Warehouse of London which can only seat 250 people. People from all over the world who wish to experience a performance at The Donmar Warehouse can now do so thanks to this undertaking.
The artistic director of Donmar, Michael Grandage, is aware that the space of the theater is very limited and was seeking ways to have a broader audience. This act of filming the performance is a great solution, thanks to the advances made in technology.
This is not the first performance to be filmed though since this concept started in New York at the Met opera. The result of Phèdre and Alan Bennett’s The Habit of Art was actually very good that Grandage immediately agreed to have King Lear filmed.
The technical aspect of filming the performance would still have to be ironed out. Concerns such as cameras getting in the way of theater viewers would really have to be taken into consideration. Grandage on the other hand is confident that they would be able to pull this off flawlessly.
King Lear would start rehearsals on October and aims to open on December. With more or less 22 people on the cast this is going to be one of the best performance of Shakespeare’s play.
