I watched it and it was absolutely brilliant ! Ian McKellern and Anthony Hopkins .. great performances, and early on when that "jester" was on I knew the voice but couldn't place it at all and had to look it up on iPlayer ... Edward Fox. I am going to watch it again on iPlayer ...
Trailer -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06nsxn0/clipsProgramme website -
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b06nsxn0http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... he-dresserIn a touring Shakespearean theatre company, backstage hand Norman is devoted to the brilliant but tyrannical head of the company, Sir. He struggles to support the deteriorating star as the company works to carry on during the London blitz during World War Two. The pathos of his backstage efforts rival the pathos in Shakespeare's story of Lear and the Fool from his play King Lear, which is being presented on stage, as the situation comes to a crisis.
Norman Ian McKellen
Sir Anthony Hopkins
Her Ladyship Emily Watson
Madge Sarah Lancashire
Irene Vanessa Kirby
Thornton Edward Fox
Oxenby/Edmund Tom Brooke
Gloucester John Ashton
Kent Ian Conningham
Goneril Annalisa Rossi
Regan Helen Bradbury
Cornwall Carl Sanderson
Albany Matthew Cottle
Gentleman Martin Chamberlain
Writer Ronald Harwood
Producer Suzan Harrison
Director Richard Eyre
Production Company Playground UK Ltd