Nothing will come of Nothing: seeking stage Lears on film
January 28, 2019 8:43 AM Subscribe
I am failing very very badly at basic google/library skills today. Can anyone point me towards a listing of theatrical productions of "King Lear" that have been filmed and are available to purchase/rent/view somehow?
I have access to an academic library with good interlibrary loan and subscriptions to multimedia databases, as well as a willingness to pay to view, so access is not a huge issue. I'm also easily able to search for and find specific, individual filmed productions that I already know exist (i.e. the Globe's 2017 production dir. by Nancy Meckler). What I'm really looking for is an as-comprehensive-as-possible list of prominent stagings of Lear that were recorded on film so that I can track down the ones I don't already know about and view them. Like, is it possible to watch the Simon Russell Beale Lear from the National Theatre in 2014? Jacobi's Lear from Donmar in 2010? I suppose I could search for each production one-by-one, but surely a list must exist somewhere, and my google-fu is just terribad today...also, such a mythical list would presumably have Lears that I haven't considered and therefore wouldn't know to search for individually.
Note: I'm not looking for film or television adaptations of Lear at the moment. I'm specifically looking for stage productions that have been recorded on film.
I have access to an academic library with good interlibrary loan and subscriptions to multimedia databases, as well as a willingness to pay to view, so access is not a huge issue. I'm also easily able to search for and find specific, individual filmed productions that I already know exist (i.e. the Globe's 2017 production dir. by Nancy Meckler). What I'm really looking for is an as-comprehensive-as-possible list of prominent stagings of Lear that were recorded on film so that I can track down the ones I don't already know about and view them. Like, is it possible to watch the Simon Russell Beale Lear from the National Theatre in 2014? Jacobi's Lear from Donmar in 2010? I suppose I could search for each production one-by-one, but surely a list must exist somewhere, and my google-fu is just terribad today...also, such a mythical list would presumably have Lears that I haven't considered and therefore wouldn't know to search for individually.
Note: I'm not looking for film or television adaptations of Lear at the moment. I'm specifically looking for stage productions that have been recorded on film.
Best answer: Although there is a Genre/Form listing in WorldCat called "filmed performances", that does not seem to catch every single "stage Lear." I suppose there's also the question of how "filmed" a performance is--that is, does the stage company think it is creating a new work (a film)? or do they think they are recording their work (the stage production). Or is this "a television production" because it was recorded for TV broadcast?
So every video with "King Lear" in the title on worldcat gives us 775 results; some of those are not filmed plays. But that leaves out productions without "King", for example this Mabou Mines one titled "Lear."
Searching "King Lear filmed performance" and filtering by video gives you 119 results. Again, that probably leaves some out. I'm sorry to say that I can't find an up-to-date bibliography only of filmed stage performances. Because there is not an exact metadata tag to find the thing that you want -- and/or it has not been applied to all the performances you want -- I suggest you start with those 119 results and then just keep doing video searches in worldcat.
posted by Hypatia at 9:21 AM on January 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
So every video with "King Lear" in the title on worldcat gives us 775 results; some of those are not filmed plays. But that leaves out productions without "King", for example this Mabou Mines one titled "Lear."
Searching "King Lear filmed performance" and filtering by video gives you 119 results. Again, that probably leaves some out. I'm sorry to say that I can't find an up-to-date bibliography only of filmed stage performances. Because there is not an exact metadata tag to find the thing that you want -- and/or it has not been applied to all the performances you want -- I suggest you start with those 119 results and then just keep doing video searches in worldcat.
posted by Hypatia at 9:21 AM on January 28, 2019 [2 favorites]
Best answer: If you go to the New York Public Library catalog and search for TOFT and King Lear you get a few results. Mostly to consult in person though. TOFT stands for Theatre on Film and Tape Archive.
posted by TheGoodBlood at 9:27 AM on January 28, 2019
posted by TheGoodBlood at 9:27 AM on January 28, 2019
The James Earl Jones version is great and is available on amazon and on dvd.
posted by gudrun at 10:52 AM on January 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by gudrun at 10:52 AM on January 28, 2019 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Capt. Renault at 9:09 AM on January 28, 2019