Donmar Warehouse and BAM Present KING LEAR Featuring Derek Jacobi, 4/28-6/5

Acclaimed actor Derek Jacobi reunites with Tony Award-winning Artistic Director Michael Grandage for the Donmar production of King Lear. Presented at BAM in its US premiere, the production opened at the Donmar in December 2010, followed by an eight-week tour of the UK. It was also broadcast to more than 22 countries worldwide in collaboration with National Theatre Live.

One of the greatest works in Western literature, King Lear explores the very nature of human existence: love and duty, power and loss, good and evil. The Guardian (UK) says, "...the miracle of Michael Grandage's production is that it is fast, vivid, clear and, thanks to a performance that reminds us why Derek Jacobi is a great classical actor, overwhelmingly moving."

Grandage and Jacobi have previously collaborated on productions of The Tempest and Don Carlos,
as well as the Donmar production of Twelfth Night, for which Jacobi received an Olivier Award for his portrayal of Malvolio. A veteran stage actor, Jacobi is perhaps best known to American audiences as Claudius in the television series I, Claudius. His film work includes Hamlet and Dead Again and his Broadway credits include Uncle Vanya and Much Ado About Nothing, for which he won a Tony Award. He most recently appeared in the Academy Award-winning film The King's Speech as Archbishop Cosmo Lang. Grandage and Jacobi were both recently awarded UK Critics' Circle Awards for their work on King Lear-Grandage for Best Director, and Jacobi for Best Shakespearean performance. Completing Grandage's creative team is the multi Tony Award-winning ensemble behind the Donmar's recent Broadway hit Red-Christopher Oram, Neil Austin, and Adam Cork.

One of London's leading producing theaters, the Donmar Warehouse has garnered critical acclaim at home and abroad for its unparalleled catalogue of work. Since 1992, Donmar-generated productions have received 37 Olivier Awards, 22 Critics' Circle Awards, 19 Evening Standard Awards, and 14 Tony Awards. The Donmar has a long and successful history of presenting its work outside of its home in Covent Garden. Productions in the West End include Ivanov, Twelfth Night, Madame de Sade, Hamlet Piaf, Mary Stuart, Frost/Nixon, A Voyage Round My Father, Guys and Dolls, Design for Living, The Glass Menagerie, Company, The Real Thing, and Passion Play. Productions on Broadway include Red, Hamlet, Mary Stuart, Frost/Nixon, Cabaret, Electra, The Blue Room, The Real Thing, True West, Nine, and The Public Theater and Donmar collaboration Take Me Out.

The Donmar returns to BAM following last year's production of Strindberg's Creditors (2010 Spring
Season), directed by Alan Rickman. The company made its BAM debut in spring 2003 with Twelfth
Night and Uncle Vanya in repertory, directed by Sam Mendes.

Photo credit Johan Persson