"King Lear" (2008) with Ian McKellen, Act II Scene 4

This performance of King Lear comes from a 2008 remake of the classic Royal Shakespeare Company performance. The 2008 version was directed by Trevor Nunn, and stars Sir Ian McKellen as the maddened King Lear.

Ian McKellen delivers an incredible performance, and I chose to use this scene because it shows his versatility as an actor. We see him fall from old and royal to decrepit and senile in one scene as his daughters reveal their intentions of betrayal. Lear begins the scene, looking aged and out of health, but still kingly. He demands to know who put his servant in the stocks, and Regan avoids the question and tries convincing Lear that he is the one who is in the wrong regarding Goneril. Lear's grows outraged, and once Goneril enters, seems to lose control. His voice starts cracking, his hair becomes disheveled, and at one point he looks like he's about to give his two daughters a good ole fashioned belt-whuppin'.

The questions that this video brings up are mostly related to how Shakespeare actually transfers to the stage. What choices does Ian McKellen make that determine how King Lear is portrayed in this version of the play? How else could he have handled the character? There are also questions of the stage and set that affect the play. For most of this scene, the characters are shrouded in darkness. What stylistic choices does the director make, and how does that effect the play?