What do you get when you cross Shakespearean plays with the Windsors? The answer is King Charles III. Shikainah Samuel reviews...
OUR VERDICT
So, Mike Bartlett’s play of the above-mentioned name is currently being performed by the Barnes Community Players (BCP). I went last night with my plus one.
Ok, so let me start with the good stuff first. But before that, for those who don't know, the plot first. So the Queen has passed on and it is Charles who is finally now monarch. But Charles being Charles is all for freedom of the press and the like, which he says is a kind of showcasing of the British system of transparency, fair-mindedness etc. This, however, doesn't go down well with the Prime Minister who wants to clips the wings of the fourth estate.
The Leader of the Opposition gives the new king some subtle pointers on the ancient rights that he would have over Parliament, which Charles then exercises, plunging the Kingdom into a near state of anarchy. How everyone is extricated from this impasse is what forms the post-interval bit. And, of course, no story about Charles can ever be complete without Lady Di (ok, well, her ghost), Camilla, Princes William and Harry and their significant others. That and throw in a few sedate looking members of the Royal retinue – pontifical butlers and under-butlers - there’s your full cast!
Ok, where was I…? Oh, yes, the good stuff: The actors were excellent - Daniel Wain as the titular character delivered with aplomb. Georganna Simpson - who plays Jess the feisty love interest of Prince Harry (who incidentally is an almost doppelganger of the original), provided well-timed comic relief. Jamie Barker and Francesca Stone- the William and Kate duo did justice to the Macbeth and Lady Macbeth role that the story seeks to portray.
On the downside, the script itself was long-winded and given to tedious passages of monologue with very little humour woven in. The result was that as an audience, one quickly went on a mental meander. I confess, I had quite a few moments like that during the play and looking around me, I don’t think I was the only one. For a play that runs for nearly three hours on a subject such as Prince Charles, it could have taken on a more light-hearted and quirkier narrative.
Another thing I struggled with was with the pace. Where a few words or actions would have sufficed, often a protracted scene ensued - to the same end.
I went in vaguely expecting a kind of Sue Townsend’s ‘The Queen and I’ type of humour. On reflection, I think I should have thought more 'uneasy lies the head that wears the crown’. But, maybe, that’s just me. Go expecting Hamlet’s soliloquies and a touch of Macbeth’s encounter with the prophetic witches – minus the tragic endings, and you’ll be just fine!
Tickets from £10. Book now at www.barnescommunityplayers.com or www.wildducktheatre.com
Google
Yahoo
Outlook
ical
