Ep 1. Divided Kingdom

With last season's Macbeth the toast of Broadway, Geoffrey is under pressure to deliver another hit. The play he has chosen is an even greater challenge: King Lear. Terrified to climb this Everest alone, he seeks out his ghostly mentor, Oliver Wells. But Oliver is nowhere to be seen. As for Ellen, Geoffrey's on again/off again lover, she is too busy taking Geoffrey's panic personally to be of any help. So Geoffrey turns to his boyhood hero Charles Kingsman, who he coaxes out of retirement to play King Lear. Elsewhere, Executive Director Richard Smith-Jones immerses himself in the Festival's feel-good junkie musical, East Hastings, directed by Darren Nichols. A battle rages between the musical and drama companies, with a threesome of young lovers, Paul, Sophie, and the beautiful but dimwitted Megan, caught in the middle.