King Charles III is a 2014 play
in blank verse by Mike Bartlett. It was premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London,
in April 2014 and centres on the accession and reign of King Charles III of the
United Kingdom, the possible regnal name of the real Charles, Prince of Wales,
and the limiting of the freedom of the press after the News International phone
hacking scandal.
A 90-minute television adaptation was
broadcast on BBC Two on 10 May 2017.
Production History
Its premiere production was at the Almeida
Theatre from 10 April to 31 May 2014, with previews from 3 April, directed by Rupert
Goold. Charles was played by Tim
Pigott-Smith, whilst the cast also included Margot Leicester as Camilla, Oliver
Chris as Prince William, Lydia Wilson as Kate, Richard Goulding as Prince Harry,
Adam James as the Prime Minister and Nicholas Rowe as the Leader of the
Opposition.
The production transferred to the West
End's Wyndham's Theatre in September 2014 for an initial three-month run, later
announcing an extension to the end of January 2015. When Pigott-Smith sustained
a broken collar bone, he was replaced for five weeks by Miles Richardson.
Following its West End run, the play
began a UK tour at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre with Robert Powell in the
role of Charles in September 2015, ending with a month run by the Sydney
Theatre Company (at the Roslyn Packer Theatre) making its Australian premiere
in March 2016.
The play transferred to Broadway for a
limited engagement with the original London cast, running at the Music Box
Theatre from 1 November 2015 until 31 January 2016, following previews from 10
October 2015.
A typical performance ran for two hours
and forty-five minutes, including one interval.
A newly mounted production of the play
directed by David Muse with Robert Joy as King Charles began 7 February 2017 at
the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington D.C.
Plot
Charles and his family gather following
the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II. Charles, as the new king, then holds his
first weekly audience with the Prime Minister. They discuss a new Bill for statutory
regulation of the press, which has passed the House of Commons and the House of
Lords and awaits only Charles's royal assent to become law. Charles is
concerned that the law restricts freedom of the press too much, and would allow
governments to censor the news and prevent legitimate uncovering of abuse of
power by the government. He asks the Prime Minister for alterations to the
bill, but the Prime Minister refuses. The two men spar, as the Leader of the
Opposition arrives for a weekly meeting with Charles, an innovation the new
king has introduced. The Leader of the Opposition expresses his own doubts on
the bill, but he sees little alternative but for Charles to sign.
In parallel, Prince Harry has begun a
relationship with Jess Edwards, a republican. Both Charles and Prince William
have seen the ghost of Princess Diana, promising each man that he will become
"the greatest king of all". One of his first actions is to refuse to
give royal assent to the press regulation bill. The Prime Minister holds a
crisis meeting with the Leader of the Opposition and then goes alone to try to
convince Charles to sign, but Charles continues to refuse. The Prime Minister
then threatens to pass a new law bypassing the royal assent and then pass the
press law, but Charles then dissolves Parliament before the Prime Minister can
bring either of these plans into effect.
Protests begin across the country and
especially in London. Charles increases the army guard at Buckingham Palace,
offers his protection to Jess (whom the press have made the centre of a sex
scandal), and agrees to Harry's wish to become a commoner. The Duchess of
Cambridge (Prince William's wife Kate) proposes a solution: William will serve
as a mediator between Parliament and his father. William announces this plan at
a press conference without his father's knowledge or consent. Seeing this as a
betrayal, Charles reacts angrily. Ultimately, Charles is forced to abdicate in
favour of William, who plans to sign the press bill and restore the status quo
between king and Parliament. The play concludes with Harry's rejection of Jess,
and William and Kate's coronation as king and queen consort.
Critical Reception
The London and Broadway productions have
both received positive reviews.
The Telegraph's review on
this play says, “attendance is compulsory’. It is said this is the best
playwright work Mike Barlett has done yet. The thrills and plot twists of the
play should remain a secret to those who have not been exposed yet to the
reading.
The Globe and
Mail
called the play "dreary" despite its success in London and on
Broadway. It is explained to be a Shakespearean-like play that has already
passed its “best before” date. The author talks about how some aspects in this
futuristic play came true, like how Prince Harry ends up happy with his new
spouse Megan Markle. There is also how the real Prince Charles is known to be
involved with government issues and having strong opinions.
Afterword by
the blog author
I saw this play performed yesterday
(August 4, 2019) at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival on the campus of the
University of Colorado in Boulder. It
seemed to me that a significant proportion of the audience was, as I am, of
direct English descent. At several tense
moments in the dialog, the audience was absolutely silent. No one even breathed. Thus I recommend this play because its
ingenious ability to stun and jar an
audience is of the first order.
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