Colm Feore as King Lear
King Lear is a brute of a play. It is considered one of Shakespeare's most difficult and demanding and heart-rending.
It is about a king who is getting on in age and wants to divide his kingdom between his daughters, Goneril, Regan and Cordelia. When he says he'll leave the largest share to "she who loves him most", Goneril and Regan - both duplicitous - rush to flatter him. Cordelia, his favourite daughter, admits she has no words for how much she loves him, Furious, Lear disowns her. Too late, he realizes Goneril and Regan are treacherous and he and his world come apart at the seams.
The roster of actors who have played Lear is impressive - Sir John Gielgud was Lear in 1931, Christopher Plummer played the role in 2002 at Stratford, and the American film and television actor, Frank Langella is now starring in a production in New York.
The British actor Sir Ian McKellen is said to have dreaded playing the role of Lear, which he did brilliantly.
The play has been mounted in every conceivable shape and form - from the story of a gangland hood to an Australian Aboriginal re-imagining of the play.
One theatre director described Lear as a "mountain whose summit had never been reached" ... which suggests that either it's too tough to conquer, or it's so rich there is always something left to be done with it.
We're guessing Canadian actor Colm Feore subscribes to the latter sentiment, since he is going to take a crack at Lear this coming season at Stratford.
Colm Feore - who is known for his preparedness - has been thinking about and working on how to approach the role for months.
Playing Shakespearean parts is not new to him...he spent 13 seasons at Stratford before leaving in 1994 to pursue a very successful television and film career.
He's been Cardinal Della Rovere in The Borgias, Glenn Gould in Thirty-two Short Films about Glenn Gould, a police officer in Bon Cop Bad Cop and Pierre Trudeau in the mini-series Trudeau. He was King Laufey in Sir Kenneth Branagh's movie Thor, and played opposite Denzel Washington in the Broadway production of Julius Caesar. He has also appeared in the TV programs Law & Order, 24 and The West Wing.
Among his many awards, this spring he will become an Officer of the Order of Canada and he is being awarded the Earle Grey Award for acting in film and television.
Colm Feore joins Michael in conversation.