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Tate was writing in the decades immediately following the Restoration of the monarchy. In 1680, the year prior to his adaptation of Lear, he had adapted Richard II — a play depicting the deposition of the king. His attempts were suppressed twice on political grounds.
The TV anthology series Omnibus (1952–1961) staged a 73-minute version of King Lear on 18 October 1953. It was adapted by Peter Brook and starred Orson Welles in his American television debut. [122]
The Playwright’s Adaptations: Shakespeare also borrowed elements from a play called King Leir (1605), but he made significant changes, particularly by deepening the tragic elements and introducing the subplot involving Gloucester, which mirrors Lear’s suffering.
I first encountered Nahum Tate’s adaptation of King Lear when studying the play for A level. The revelation that Tate had altered the text to provide a happy ending provoked laughter from the class; Tate was set aside with Bowdler as ridiculous and inconsequential.
- Nahum Tate's King Lear
- 20th Century Performances
- Lear in Film
After the Restoration, in the latter part of the 17th century, King Learwas to be seen on the stage only in the adapted form devised by Nahum Tate. This version held the stage from 1681 to 1838. Tate famously described Shakespeare's original as: "a heap of jewels unstrung and unpolished". Under Tate's bold hands, the play was much altered with sign...
In the 20th century, John Gielgud was the actor who most frequently grappled with the demands of the play, both directing and acting in it throughout his long career. He first played the role in 1931, at the age of 27 and his final performance was in the Renaissance Theatre Company's radio production in 1994, at the age of 90. His performance at th...
Grigori Kozintsev directed a powerful and moving film version of the play in 1970, in a translation by Boris Pasternak. A year later, Peter Brook's boldly stylized film was released. This was based on Brook's 1962 production of the play at Stratford and Paul Scofield again played the title role. In 1982 Michael Hordern played Lear in the BBC TV ser...
Lear's real, and Edgar's pretended madness have so much of extravagant Nature (I know not how else to express it) as could never have started but from our Shakespeare's creating fancy.
King Lear. Adapted by Nahum Tate. Edited by Jack Lynch, Rutgers University — Newark. The text comes from the first edition of 1681, and is transcribed from a copy in the Furness Collection at the University of Pennsylvania.
