Join or Sign In
Sign in to customize your TV listings
By joining TV Guide, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the data practices in our Privacy Policy.
6 Episodes 2006 - 2006
Episode 1
47 mins
Trying to top the critical and financial success of its last production, the festival plans to stage King Lear, as well as a contemporary new musical. But creative director Geoffrey Tennant finds himself seized by fits of uncontrollable weeping--among other, more intimate maladies.

Episode 2
48 mins
Charles Kingman--the theatrical lion whom Geoffrey has recruited to play Lear--brings some secret demons of his own to the production and immediately alienates cast and crew alike. Meanwhile, the festival's general manager, Richard Smith-Jones, flexes his creative muscles.

Episode 3
49 mins
Charles's erratic behavior becomes more and more disruptive, prompting Geoffrey to consider replacing him. As tensions grow within the cast of Lear, personal and professional jealousies widen the rift between the Shakespearean actors and the eager young players in the musical.

Episode 4
47 mins
The final rehearsal of King Lear turns into a full-on train wreck, as Charles fumbles dozens of lines. With East Hastings a smashing success, Richard--now known as "Big Dick" among his youthful admirers--proposes the heretofore unthinkable: moving the Shakespearean tragedy into the workshop stage and the musical into the main venue.

Episode 5
47 mins
Anna, the festival's efficient assistant manager, steps in to help Geoffrey with Charles. But King Lear loses its Regan as actress Ellen Fanshaw flees the festival for the promise of a big payday on TV.

Episode 6
48 mins
Although Charles is clearly not a well man, he and Jeffrey manage to convince the rest of the cast of the canceled festival production of King Lear to put on the play at least once; but not in the original venue, now off-limits to a fired Jeffrey. The cast reunites for the one performance, healing rifts in friendships and giving the small but appreciative audience an electric night of theater.