Associated Press published at SFGate, 17 February 2015
NEW YORK — Playing the mad title role in Shakespeare’s “King Lear” was never supposed to be easy. That’s just what Colm Feore wanted.
The classical actor chose to make his Lear “absolutely hateful” and “corrosive” for the Stratford Festival in Canada this past summer. He turned 56 in the role, and his Lear, recorded on high-definition cameras, is a vigorous, fit monarch.
“If you do it properly, you should be legless and speechless from scene to scene. And I decided to do it that way,” Feore said. “It takes an enormous amount of energy and I think a certain amount of balls and daring to do it at all.”
The same could be said for what the Stratford Festival intends to do with the movie: It will kick off a massive initiative to film and broadcast all of Shakespeare’s plays over the next 10 years.
Feore’s “Lear,” which hits 350 movie screens across America on Feb. 25, leads the way, with “King John” following in April and “Antony and Cleopatra” in May. Three or four new films will be broadcast each year as part of the almost $40 million effort.
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