My two cents worth--make a point of watching the series "Slings and Arrows"--
I
t's a Canadian series, about a fictional Shakespearean Theatre Company, three seasons, each season, they produced another play, Hamlet, MacBeth, and King Lear--you get as realistic and unvarnished a view of theatre production as was ever shown, with amazing insights into the plays, from a players point of view.

The last season featured the great Canadian Shakespearean actor, William Hutt, in his last role, portraying a great Canadian Shakespearean actor in his last role, King Lear. The high points are a scene in which he explains the story, from his character's point of view, to the actors on the first day of rehearsals, and Lear's final scene.

If you love Shakespeare, or the theatre, or some combination thereof, check this out on cable(it's on Sundance) or beg,borrow, or buy the DVDs.

PS--the head writer for the show was Bob Martin, who wrote, and starred in the smash hit musical, "The Drowsy Chaperone". His collaborator on TDC, Don McKellar, has a recurring role in the series, and Greg Morrison and Lisa Lambert, who wrote songs for TDC, wrote a hysterical music hall type theme songs for each season--including the funniest song about King Lear that has ever been written.