play king lear at 65, 75 and 85

b/c that's a lot of lines to learn

You need a head start to lock Lear in.

749 lines.

5,610 words.

so, actors say that in order to play Lear at his actually age - 80+ - you need to learn all of those lines by 60; call them out of cold storage before you turn 70, so you can reliably stand on stage at 80 for several hours…talking most of the time.

beginning, middle and end. You probably only know that actor by his voice - if you watch a lot of sports you will know him as the voice-over of the Dos Equis 'world's most interesting man' commercials; if you are more of a PBS person - he is the narrator for Frontline.

I designed the above King Lear for Boston’s equivalent of Shakespeare in the Park. This actor was 65 at the time … he is 75 now, due for another round.

james Earl Jones was 43 in 1974 when he played Lear at Shakespeare in the Park.