This new production of King Lear sees Derek Jacobi take on one of Shakespeare’s most testing roles, the aging monarch who sees his kingdom and life disappear before his eyes.

An ageing monarch. A kingdom divided. A child’s love rejected. As Lear’s world descends into chaos, all that he once believed is brought into question. One of the greatest works in western literature, King Lear explores the very nature of human existence: love and duty, power and loss, good and evil.

Jacobi, who leads the cast of King Lear, has previously appeared in the Donmar Warehouse productions of A Voyage Round My Father and Twelfth Night, for which he won a Laurence Olivier Award. Filmed much earlier in his career, the actor may still be best known for his performance in I Claudius, though his other screen credits include Gosford Park, Gladiator and The Gathering Storm.

Michael Grandage, the Donmar’s multi-award-winning Artistic Director, directs King Lear.