Talking Lear: Kate Fleetwood, Anna Maxwell Martin, Olivia Vinall

Fiona Mountford talks to Kate Fleetwood, Anna Maxwell Martin and Olivia Vinall about playing the three daughters in Lear, being directed by Sam Mendes and performing in the Olivier theatre.

Talking Lear: Simon Russell Beale

Simon Russell Beale talks to Mark Leipacher about taking on the role of King Lear and reuniting with Sam Mendes.

King Lear: Nothing will come of nothing

"Oh, go ahead, just tell him you loved him!  It'd be so much easier.  You didn't have to mean it."

~Sam Mendes, on Cordelia vis-a-vis King Lear
Director

King Lear: Truth and perception

She can see through the lies.

~Olivia Vinall
Cordelia

King Lear: The blinding of Gloucester

It's not just about the blinding of one man.  It's about everything that's done in the name of political control.  It's about torture in general.

~Simon Russell Beale
King Lear

King Lear: The House of Gloucester

The play was a forging our relationship [i.e. with son Edgar], rather than a relationship that had fallen apart and then had to be rebuilt.

~Stephen Boxer
The Earl of Gloucester