Sir Ian McKellen plays one of Shakespeare’s most tragic roles, in a play that explores old age, mortality, family, man’s need for religious belief and the capacity to endure.

Lear decides to split his land between his three daughters, proportional to how much they claim to love him. Belief in false flattery, however, can have devastating consequences.

This production contains a brief scene of nudity.

For more about this production read the First Night Feature or the Big Interview with Romola Garai.