(August 27, 2015 – Toronto, ON) The Stratford Festival comes to CBC-TV this September with spectacular performances of King Lear, Antony and Cleopatra and King John, all captured live in spectacular High Definition in productions that far exceed the often touted Golden Age of Television. What makes these broadcasts additionally remarkable is that the CBC will carry them uninterrupted. These three productions are the first in the Stratford Festival HD initiative, which will eventually see all of Shakespeare’s plays captured for posterity and available to audiences nationwide and around the world. It is expected the series will take the next 10 years to complete. Following is more detailed information about these three screenings: King Lear — Sunday, Sept. 6 at 3 p.m. (3:30 NT) A kingdom divided, a family destroyed, the faithful banished and the hateful left to wreak inhuman havoc in the realm. Four hundred years after it was written, King Lear resonates as never before. This powerful production by North America’s leading classical theatre company stars the incomparable Colm Feore, pictured, and is directed by the Stratford Festival’s acclaimed artistic director Antoni Cimolino. King Lear is produced by Melbar Entertainment Group in association with the Stratford Festival, artistic director Antoni Cimolino and executive producers Barry Avrich, Anita Gaffney and Michael Levine, and directed for film by Joan Tosoni. Antony and Cleopatra — Sunday, Sept. 20 at 3 p.m. (3:30 NT) The contentious story of a midlife affair that shook the foundations of the ancient world comes to life in the Stratford Festival’s production of Antony and Cleopatra, starring Geraint Wyn Davies and Yanna McIntosh as the powerful rulers whose insatiable love leads to the greatest of tragedies. Director Gary Griffin paints an unforgettable landscape depicting the devastation wrought by the heart’s transgressions. Antony and Cleopatra is produced by Melbar Entertainment Group in association with the Stratford Festival, artistic director Antoni Cimolino, and executive producers Barry Avrich, Anita Gaffney and Michael A. Levine. King John – Sunday, Sept. 27 at 3 p.m. (3:30 NT) When the rule of a hedonistic and mercurial king is questioned, rebellion, assassination and excommunication ensue, culminating in the chilling attempt to commit an atrocity against a child, whose mother’s anguished grief cannot atone for her blinkered ambitions for her son. Starring Tom McCamus and Seana McKenna with commanding performances by Graham Abbey and Patricia Collins, King John is directed by Tim Carroll. Filmed under the direction of Barry Avrich, King John is produced by Melbar Entertainment Group in association with the Stratford Festival, artistic director Antoni Cimolino, and executive producers Barry Avrich, Anita Gaffney and Michael Levine.
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