The Stratford Festival is launching a film festival during this period of social isolation, offering free streaming of 12 Shakespeare productions captured as part of its Stratford Festival On Film series. This is the first time the full-length versions of these productions have been available for free.
Each film will debut with a 7 p.m. viewing party and remain available for free for a three-week period on the Stratford Festival website here.
It launches today, on Shakespeare's birthday, with King Lear, directed by Artistic Director Antoni Cimolino and featuring Colm Feore in the title role.
An aging monarch resolves to divide his kingdom among his three daughters, with consequences he little expects. His reason shattered in the storm of violent emotion that ensues, with his very life hanging in the balance, Lear loses everything that has defined him as a king - and thereby discovers the essence of his own humanity.
Watch the trailer below:
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