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REVIEW: King Charles III: Theatre Royal, Brighton

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Queen Elizabeth is dead and immediately the rest of the Royal Family are arguing about the workings of the constitution: does Charles (Robert Powell) ascend the throne immediately, or does he only become king upon his coronation? This minor problem of regal procedure soon becomes irrelevant when the King decides to upturn a centuries-old tradition by refusing to sign a bill he doesn’t agree with. And soon there’s a tank parked outside Buckingham Palace and there are vague threats of civil war.

Mike Bartlett’s play is vastly entertaining look at royalty, the machinations of the political establishment and the identity of England itself. It’s also written in blank verse and the dialogue, and some of the plotting, is self-consciously Shakespearean. It even boasts a ghostly visitation bearing a prophecy. It takes a while to adjust to modern characters brandishing the occasion ‘doth’ but, strangely, this conceit works perfectly. It strikes me almost as if Bartlett has, in part, produced a conceptual work of art, rather like a Koons sculpture which is the perfect simulacrum of a blow-up plastic toy but is actually made of cast metal.

Rather than go for mere imitation, Powell gives a brilliant portrait of a man who decides to act on principle. Whereas the real Charles is, in the popular imagination at least, something of a well meaning meddler, Powell invests him with something approaching grandeur. It’s also an entirely sympathetic portrayal which may wrong foot any republicans expecting something more obviously critical or even mocking. When his Prime Minister (Tim Treloar) tries to bring the memory of the King’s former wife to bear for his own political ends, there’s a real moment of pain as he chastises the man for trying to ‘utilise Diana’ so early on in their relationship.

Penelope Beaumont’s Camilla is as strong and determined as Kate Middleton (Jennifer Bryden), and Ben Righton is suitably determined as William, the prince who will end up betraying his father. As is fitting for the soap opera the Royal Family is, Harry (Richard Glaves) gets his own storyline in which he falls in love with a commoner (Lucy Phelps) and decides to give up any claim to the throne – and the cash from the civil list – to be with her.

The production itself is flawless. The stark but beautiful set conveys something of the coldness and tradition of the family under scrutiny; and the music by Jocelyn Pook has a solemnity which amplifies the sense of history being made.

Continues at the Theatre Royal, Brighton until Saturday 13.

For more information click here.

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