ABC2 Live Presents

Filmed at Sydney Opera House

It has been 20 years since John Bell founded his groundbreaking theatre group, Bell Shakespeare. ABC2 Live celebrates this important occasion by bringing you one of Shakespeare’s greatest works, King Lear, exclusively recorded by the ABC at Melbourne’s Arts Centre. Along with Hamlet, King Lear is considered one of Shakespeare’s greatest works. Written in Shakespeare’s prolific ‘golden’ period, between 1603 and 1606, it is based on the legend of King Leir, a king from pagan Britain. It tells the story of a King’s suffering due to the actions of his own children and deals with ideas of monarchy and human nature. Bell Shakespeare’s award-winning former Associate Artistic Director, Marion Potts, brings this classic story into the 21st century. Set in a Godless world that has lost its moral conscience, Potts's production shows that Shakespeare's dire warnings for a society that betrays human worth remain all too relevant today. John Bell leads a talented cast of some of Australia’s finest actors, including Peter Carroll as the Fool, Jane Montgomery Griffiths as Goneril, Rachel Gordon as Regan and Susan Prior as Cordelia. Bell is considered one of Australia’s most influential theatre personalities. His career as an actor and director spans over 40 years. This is the third time he has played King Lear – the first was in the 1984 Nimrod production directed by Aubrey Mellor and the second in the 1998 Bell Shakespeare production directed by Barrie Kosky