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.