EXCERPT: "By writing in blank verse and by incorporating various recognisable Shakespearean tropes, scenes and characters, Bartlett forces comparisons to the Bard. What is so truly exceptional is that he pulls this off: his play portrays a dramatic situation and characters that could quite credibly be the subject of a Shakespearean drama - even as they are entirely believable consequences of the Queen's death."
Plot summary
The Queen is dead: after a lifetime of waiting, the prince ascends the throne. A future of power. But how to rule? Mike Bartlett’s controversial new play explores the people beneath the crowns, the unwritten rules of our democracy, and the conscience of Britain’s most famous family.
Cast and Creatives
Written by Mike Bartlett
Directed by Rupert Goold
Designed by Tom Scutt
Tim Pigott-Smith - Charles III
Oliver Chris - William
Richard Goulding - Harry
Tafline Steen - punky republican art student Harry falls in love with
Lydia Wilson - Duchess of CambridgeNyasha Hatendi
Adam James
Margot Leicester
Katie Brayben
Tom Robertson
Nicholas Rowe
Nick Sampson
Thoughts
Mike Bartlett has pulled off an extraordinary feat. King Charles III dramatises a future history play around today's royals. The characters are entirely recognisable - there is something inherently comic about seeing Wills and Kate, the picturesquely perfect pair, up on stage alongside the hapless Harry and the principled (if somewhat out-of-touch) Charles. There is no sense of an agenda - royalist or not; rather Bartlett has created a dramatic opportunity within which we are confronted by the difficulties incumbent upon the characters due to their regal positions. Director Rupert Goold and his cast have negotiated the situation well to ensure that the humanity of each of these well known figures shines through.
The play artfully raises and explores juicy issues, such as privacy from the press, the role of the monarch, and whether a royal figure's first duty is as a person and family member, or to their position. These main issues are threaded through the plot, but Bartlett also briefly raises a whole host of other interesting points: Will's outburst encourages us to think afresh about the effect that Diana's death must have had on Charles' relationship with his sons; when Will eloquently argues that his intervention will safeguard the role of the monarchy, we wonder how threatened it will be when Queen Elizabeth does die; and the kebab-shop man's discussion of Britishness being stripped away layer by layer makes us consider national identity and what forms it. And by seeing the inner workings of the royal family in this dramatic context, we suddenly realise how little we actually know of these people's real characters and relationships, despite their continual presence in the press.
By writing in blank verse and by incorporating various recognisable Shakespearean tropes, scenes and characters (for example the Hamlet-esque appearance of Diana's ghost, and predictive stoking of ambition akin to Macbeth's three witches), Bartlett forces comparisons to the Bard. What is so truly exceptional is that he pulls this off: his play portrays a dramatic situation and characters that could quite credibly be the subject of a Shakespearean drama - even as they are entirely believable consequences of the Queen's death. And Tom Scutt's design adds a grandiose Shakespearean context (very similar, in fact, to the Donmar's set for Richard II) that ensures we see the tragedy of the situation.
The second half speeds along more nicely, but I think the first could have done with some more comedy. It relies a great deal on Richard Goulding, who brings some lovely Boris Johnson style humour to the piece, with a lot of 'yah's' and puffed up pride at going to Sainsbury's. Whilst there are some brilliant comedic moments in the script - Kate's 'Fuck, yeah' is a real highlight - more of these comedic gems would have been welcome to increase entertainment factor. Goold does well, however, to direct his cast to exploit the existing comic opportunities without making the piece farcical or its characters flat and stereotyped. And Tim Piggott-Smith in the title role leads the rest along admirably: we understand his inner turmoil whilst similarly recognising how negatively we would see his actions if portrayed to us through the lens of the press.
I have no reservations in recommending this to all, young or old - a West End transfer is surely only a matter of time.
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