Olivier Award winner Simon Russell Beale takes on the title role in Shakespeare’s powerful tragedy following his acclaimed performance as Timon in the National Theatre’s production of Timon Of Athens.

Directed by Academy Award winner Sam Mendes, whose production of Charlie And The Chocolate Factory is currently playing in the West End, King Lear tells the story of an aged king who divides his kingdom between his three daughters according to which of them is most eloquent in praising him.

Russell Beale, whose credits at the Southbank venue include Collaborators, London Assurance and Much Ado About Nothing, as well as The Hothouse and Privates On Parade in the West End, is joined in the cast by Stephen Boxer, Tom Brooke, Kate Fleetwood, Anna Maxwell Martin, Adrian Scarborough, Stanley Townsend, Sam Troughton and Olivia Vinall.