Review: King Charles III
Image: Photo: Richard Hubert Smith
The Queen is dead and for Charles the throne beckons, but he is no pushover. Asked to sign a bill that will limit press freedom, he promptly refuses, much to the ire of the Prime Minister. The government moves to render the monarch’s approval redundant so Charles dissolves parliament. William and Kate decide that the only solution to this impasse is for the coronation to skip a generation, ‘otherwise the royal family is done for’. So the die is cast for a royal skirmish of Shakespearean proportions.
Mike Bartlett’s King Charles III was a West End and Broadway sensation. It’s not hard to see why. Taking all the tropes of Shakespeare’s historic tragedies, he has applied them to the modern day House of Windsor and the finished work is completely enthralling. Sure, it asks questions about the place of the monarchy today (with special relevance to colonial outposts like ours), but pushing deeper, this is a very human story – a grand family tragedy with real flesh and blood characters.
British stage icon Robert Powell is warm and absorbing as the tragic yet principled Charles. Along with William he has been visited by the ghost of Dianna and told that he will be the greatest of kings. Richard Glaves is Harry, the black sheep who gets involved with the spirited Jess, a commoner. His movement between the two worlds – the castle and the kebab shop – is underlined by the change from blank verse to simple prose.
The open brick set is almost industrial and the audience’s eyes are drawn upwards to a frieze of faces – commoners – as the drama unfolds beneath their relentless gaze. (GW)
****
Mar 31–Apr 30, various show times. Sydney Theatre Company, Roslyn Packer Theatre, 22 Hickson Rd, Walsh Bay. $69-$116. Tickets & info: sydneytheatre.com.au or 02 9250 1777.
