Big news today in the London theater world. A production of King Lear starring Ian McKellan that started out in Chichester is coming to the West End. This will be a great chance to see McKellan in a major role in London Theatre.
Here are the details released today:
ATG Productions, Chichester Festival Theatre, Gavin Kalin Productions and Glass Half Full Productions are delighted to announce a major West End transfer for Chichester Festival Theatre’s critically-acclaimed production of Shakespeare’s King Lear, which will run at the Duke of York’s Theatre in London for 100 performances only from 11th July to 3rd November 2018. Directed by Jonathan Munby, this intimate and contemporary production ran for a sold-out season at Chichester Festival Theatre’s Minerva Theatre in autumn 2017.
The ensemble of actors will include Ian McKellen as King Lear, returning to the Duke of York’s Theatre where he made his West End debut in the 1964 production of A Scent of Flowers. McKellen has enjoyed an illustrious career on stage and screen, not least inhabiting some of Shakespeare’s most iconic roles including Hamlet, Macbeth, Iago, Richard II and III as well as in previous productions of King Lear as Edgar, Kent and in the title role.
I don’t want to sound morbid, but McKellan is 78 so this may be one of the last chances to see this theatre great live on stage in London. I’m going to try and book tickets to see this myself as we’ll be in England in September.
Performance schedule:
First performance: 11th July 2018
Final performance: 3rd November 2018
Opening Night: 26th July 2018
Tuesday – Saturday evenings at 7pm
Saturday matinee at 1.30pm
Running time: 3 hours and 20 minutes including one interval
Tickets start at £25.
Book now at KingLearWestEnd.com
Author: Jonathan Thomas
Jonathan is a consummate Anglophile who launched Anglotopia.net in 2007 to channel his passion for Britain. Londontopia is its sister publication dedicated to everything London.