"King Charles III" by Mike Bartlett
Lace Market Theatre

The play premiered in 2014 and the longer the play runs the closer to recent history it becomes. Charles has been preparing for this role all of his life and now that the Queen has passed and he is about to take up his role, but he has his own vision of how he wants to be King, and that causes conflict within his family, parliament and the country, dividing opinions and loyalty. The action covers the period from the Royal funeral up to the Coronation Day.

One thing I love,and admire about the Lace Market Theatre is that they don't choose productions guaranteed to put "bums on seats", opting more for the artistic view of bringing little performed but interesting plays such as this one to the local stage.

It's a fairly large cast of 17 actors, several playing other roles as well as their main ones, typical of a Shakespearean piece. The vari-aged cast work as one, like a jigsaw. Every piece vital to give the whole picture and if one was missing, you'd notice.

This isn't a production of mimics and unlike TV programmes like "The Royals", there is no attempt to make the actors look like the characters that they are playing, but you just know who they are supposed to be by the distinct characterisation.

Robert Suttle (Charles) presents the king in a masterful role. After all, this is the job that he has been waiting for all of his life.He has a lovely paternal connection with his fellow "family" actors, separating the man and the father from his job as would be King. His smooth and natural acting style worked so well in this role.

Cynthia Marsh (Camilla) had a more comical role than I had expected with her obvious wish to be The Queen.

Mark Gadsby (William) took the role as big brother as well as the next in line seriously, just in the same way as the real Prince is depicted, but only the future will tell if his ending matches the one in this play!!

Lucy Monaghan (Kate) shows that behind every powerful man, there is a woman who is pulling his strings. A real eye opener of a character depiction.

Aaron Connelly (Harry) shows the playboy Prince in a more three dimensional character. I am a fan of this Prince in the real world and I think Aaron, as the younger Prince, showed the fun, normal "lad" with his laddish mates and that touch of reality about him. I loved the fact that he asked James if he had heard of Sainsbury's, where he had been shopping with Jess. Loved this character and the character portrayal

Matthew Clapp (James) plays the personal servant to Charles and the sudden upsurge of work needed to do what the heir requested showed as a worry in James' face. The tug o war juggling act he has shows what a difficult job this character has, and is well portrayed by Matthew.

Alex Milligan (Jess) is the spanner in the Royal works but gives the young Royal a new outlook on his life and I feel breaks down Charles' official exterior, which shows that the future could be more relaxed for the Princes. Obviously written before Meghan came on the scene.

I also loved Roger Newman's role as the Prime Minister and Roger's stage presence and character acting, as well as the best vocal projection of the night, made him a stand out for me.

There's even ghostly visitations from Diana giving a prediction of sorts, but to whom is this prediction aimed at?

When written and first performed, and even as a television drama, it proved to be controversial, but then again so was “Spitting Image” in its’ day. I think the controversy, only a few years on has faded but I really enjoyed this possible crystal ball future glimpse of the Royals, but only time will tell to see if the ending in this play becomes a reality.

Written in Shakespearean blank verse – which for those who didn’t know is “poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter”. It's an interesting concept with a look to the future with a style that harks back 400 odd years. It's this style that also makes this play different and interesting.

Directed by Sam Allison with a wonderful set designed by Cris Brawn. A set that takes in the Royal quarters, a nightclub and includes a kebab stall which doubles wonderfully as part of the parliamentary scenery.

The lighting design is from Allan Green and the Sound design by Jack Harris, both wonderfully adding to the whole feel and setting of the play.

There has also been a lot of research gone into this play regarding getting advice on Royal etiquette from Steven Scott, who was once a footman to the Queen, and if you thought the riot gear looked realistic, it is because it's on loan from the Nottingham Police. there are no corners cut for this play.

The costumes are brilliant, but again that is no surprise when Max Bromley's name is involved.

All in all this play is an interesting incite into what could happen within the Royal Family when the Queen has gone. There's a good dollop of comedy and, with the wonderful script and the talented cast, this play was over, for me, far too soon.

Read the original article here.

It's a right royal triumph

THE play opens with a portentous announcement that the Queen is dead, an early clue that King Charles III isn't going to be a knockabout satire. There are moments of quiet humour certainly, but this is a play of ideas, It presents a clash between two important and laudable principles. And it portrays falible human-beings struggling to reconcile normal familiar love with public duty.

The new King (Rob Suttle) sparks a massive constitutional crisis. Parliament has passed a bill curtailing press freedom, but Charles flouts convention and refuses to sign it into law. What's to be done? And in an engaging sub plot Prince Harry (an excellent Aaron Connelly), a figure of pathos, has fallen for a defiantly non-Sloane commoner.

Complete with soliloquies and clever iambic pentameter blank verse, the play is a homage to Shakespeare. There are low-life scenes when Harry revels with his drinking cronies; his treatment of his girlfriend reminds us of Henry V's dismissal of Falstaff. And Kate (Lucy Monaghan) becomes another Lady Macbeth as she eggs on an initially fence-sitting William (Mark Gadsby). In a key soliloquy, she shows she is a shrewd power seeker - she wants to be Queen.

Suttle doesn't opt for a cheap impression. Instead he perfectly captures an insecure and ageing man weighed down by an ever-present memory of a towering predecessor. It's a terrific performance. And there's more fine work from Roger Newman as the Prime Minister, Jane Herring (a Scottish Leader of the Opposition) and Cynthia Marsh (Camilla). Kareena Sims's Diana Is done with taste. She's a passing but troubling background presence throughout.

Good work from director Sam Allison.

Theatre Review: King Charles III at Lace Market Theatre

We went to check out Mike Bartlett’s King Charles III at Lace Market Theatre…

Set in a near-future Great Britain, Bartlett’s take on Shakespeare follows the death of Queen Elizabeth II and the power gap that comes after. The now-king Charles must step up into parliamentary duties of signing a journalism-restricting law into place, though his personal opinions stop him from doing so, creating a rift between Parliament and the Monarchy not unlike the Civil War. Meanwhile, Prince Harry falls in love with an art student named Jess.

That subplot of “the rich man wants to live common!” had me fidgeting in my chair impatiently, and the fact that the play had the nerve to reference Common People in Jess having gone to “Saint Martin’s College” – while missing the point of Pulp’s scathing song – had me reeling even more.

A lot of the problems were down to the play’s writing; the piece was written about four years ago and therefore long-since out of the cast’s control. But there was a lot they could have done to bring it to life, bad script or not. The titular lead of Charles, being a conflicted regent-to-be in a difficult political and emotional position, was completely deadpan throughout, only putting emotional weight into his very last action of crumbling in frustration and mourning after William takes the throne.

There were some good ideas in the stagecraft though, including a live playing of local radio before the performance started, which was cut off with an in-play headline of “Breaking news: the Queen has died.” Then, a funeral procession came through the audience. This highlight, however, was quickly undermined with an audio flub of the funeral music cutting off immediately.

Shakespearean techniques like iambic pentameter were used sometimes, but seemingly only when the writer felt like it, and its cribbing from Macbeth and Hamlet just smacks of a moderately-achieving A-Level project. Every glimmering jewel in King Charles III crown was instantly washed away by ideas so interbred that they had Habsburg chins.

Still, well done to everyone for attempting to humanise the Royal Family. That’s a feat that’d take longer than a two-hour play.

Read the original article here.