King Lear 2023
Run Time:
Approximately 2 hours No interval
Approximately 2 hours No interval
Ages: 12+
Opened: October 31, 2023Closing: December 09, 2023
King Lear - 2023 West End History , Info & More
Wyndham's Theatre
(Leicester Square) Charing Cross Road London
Kenneth Branagh will direct and play the title role for 50 performances only at Wyndham’s Theatre from 21 October.
King Lear - 2023 - West End Cast
FEATURED REVIEWS FOR King Lear
Kenneth Branagh helms a pared-down tragedy
6 / 10
Branagh’s central performance is ultimately, and surprisingly, underwhelming in its psychologically discontinuous presentation of Lear. Like many in the cast, he either overaccentuates or underpitches his delivery, vacillating between extremes of emotion without fully inhabiting the part’s profound subtleties. Especially in the play’s first half, his oscillations between capricious, bombastic king and bruised father often feel abrupt and synthetic.
Kenneth Branagh’s take on the thwarted ruler feels like a first draftThe veteran actor directs and plays the title role in a brisk and curiously weightless London production.
6 / 10
This King Lear feels like a curio, one that starts to imagine a different kind of way of presenting this time-honoured story of ageing and decline, without quite offering a complete reading. It feels like a first draft, polished to spearhead visual brightness, but not sharpened to a point. For that, we’ll have to wait for Branagh’s near-inevitable, and welcome, film adaptation.
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Review Roundup: Kenneth Branagh's KING LEAR Opens in the West End. What Did the Critics Think?
by Aliya Al-Hassan - November 1, 2023
by Aliya Al-Hassan - November 1, 2023
Kenneth Branagh returns to the West End to direct and play the title role in William Shakespeare’s KING LEAR, for 50 performances only. Completing the cast is a company of RADA graduates.
Review: KING LEAR, Wyndham's Theatre
by Alexander Cohen - November 1, 2023
by Alexander Cohen - November 1, 2023
Alarm bells ring when a director stars in the play they are also directing. Even if that director is Sir Kenneth Branagh. Nine times out of ten the production falls flat and the audience are left wondering if ego is to blame. Branagh’s hotly anticipated stab at King Lear is, sadly, no exception.
Photos: Inside Rehearsals for The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company's KING LEAR
by Aliya Al-Hassan - October 3, 2023
by Aliya Al-Hassan - October 3, 2023
Images have been released from inside the rehearsal room for The Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company’s King Lear. Check out the photos here.
King Lear FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
How long has King Lear been running on the West End?
King Lear opened at the Wyndham's Theatre on Tuesday Oct 31, 2023 and has now been running for 1 month.
King Lear History
Other Productions of King Lear
| 1754 | Broadway |
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| 1905 | Broadway |
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| 1906 | Broadway |
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| 1907 | Broadway |
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| 1907 | Broadway |
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| 1907 | Broadway |
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| 1909 | Broadway |
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| 1911 | Broadway |
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| 1915 | Broadway |
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| 1917 | Broadway |
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| 1918 | Broadway |
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| 1923 | Broadway |
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| 1930 | Broadway |
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| 1930 | Broadway |
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| 1947 | Broadway |
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| 1950 | Broadway |
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| 1962 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 1968 | Broadway |
Broadway |
| 1973 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 1978 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 1982 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 1990 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 1996 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 2004 | Broadway |
Lincoln Center Revival Broadway |
| 2006 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 2007 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 2011 | Off-Broadway |
Public Theater Production Off-Broadway |
| 2014 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway |
| 2014 | Off-Broadway |
Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park Off-Broadway |
| 2016 | West End |
Old Vic Revival Production West End |
| 2018 | West End |
Chichester Festival Theatre West End Revival West End |
| 2019 | Broadway |
Broadway Revival Broadway |
| 2023 | West End |
West End |
| 2024 | Off-Broadway |
Off-Broadway Production Off-Broadway |
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