1993 RSC production of King Lear

King Lear is first and formost a play, not a novel, it is intended to be acted on stage. This means that there can be different interpretations of the play depending on the directors ideas. Each production will be subtly different, lines or sometimes even whole scenes can be cut out. A lot can change about the meaning of a line just by the way it is deliverd on stage.

The 1993 Royal Shakespeare Companys' production was directed by Adrian Noble and starred Robert Stephens as Lear. Robert Stephens was was a very respected actor at the time and recieved a knighthood in 1995 which was unfortunately the year he died.
Nobles production had vibrant colours and bright and sweeping regency coats made the play full of energy and panache. the floor of the stage was covered with a giant map of Lears' kingdom and as the play progressed and the kingdom became fragmented and broken, so did the map. it was made out of paper so it tore and fractured. Noble also used this kind of stylisation and symbolism with the blinding of Gloucester, as he staggerd of the stage he had a gaint globe attached above him split open releasing a torent of dry sand on his head. Also later Cornwall was brutally castrated on stage, with an abundance of blood!

Robert Stephens portrayl of Lear was highly praised by critics, it balanced the spectacular stage effects by showing the poignant vulnerability of Lear.