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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

BBC Radio 3

Radio 3

Drama on 3

Drama

Series of drama performances, ranging from experimental works to the Classics

William Shakespeare

Ian McDiarmid

Madeleine Worrall

Frances Grey

Joanna Vanderham

Michael Nardone

Bill Paterson

Finn den Hertog

Paul Higgins

Brian Vernel

Steven Robertson

Steven Cree

Owen Whitelaw

Sean Murray

Simon Harrison

Ewan Bailey

Gaynor Macfarlane

Drama on 3: King Lear

King Lear

08/05/2016

BBC Radio 3 - Drama on 3, King Lear

When better than now to make a drama about 'the division of the kingdom'?

When better than now to make a drama about 'the division of the kingdom'? Shakespeare's great tragedy headed by Ian McDiarmid as Lear and Bill Paterson as Gloucester.

When better than now to make a drama about "the division of the kingdom"? A new production of Shakespeare's great tragedy with a Scottish cast headed by Ian McDiarmid as Lear and Bill Paterson as Gloucester. 

Lear is a very old king with a dynastic problem: three daughters and no sons. 
In dividing the kingdom between his children, Lear's reasoning is admirable: he wants to hand over the kingdom to his daughters so that "future strife / May be prevented now." But in doing so he sets in train a chain of events that lead to madness, self-discovery and the disintegration of the kingdom. 

King Lear ..... Ian McDiarmid
Kent ..... Michael Nardone
Goneril ..... Madeleine Worrall 
Regan ..... Frances Grey
Cordelia ..... Joanna Vanderham
Gloucester ..... Bill Paterson
Edgar ..... Finn den Hertog
Edmund ..... Paul Higgins
The Fool ..... Brian Vernel
Albany ..... Steven Robertson
Cornwall ..... Steven Cree
Oswald ..... Owen Whitelaw
Burgundy/Doctor ..... Sean Murray
King of France ..... Simon Harrison
Old Man/Gentleman ..... Ewan Bailey


Music performed by Polly Phillips (bassoon) and Georgina McGrath (double bass)


Music and Sound Design by Gary C Newman

Produced and directed by Gaynor Macfarlane.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

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