Bartlett and Director, Rupert Goold, last worked together on the stunning Earthquakes in London, a complex story about climate change. This collaboration, though one-dimensional in comparison, is also visually stunning. Tom Scutt's set - bare brick walls with a collage strip showing rabble at the gates, has a Shakespearian feel. The squared stage, which sits at the top of three wide Wilton-carpeted steps, is magisterial. Jon Clark's stark lighting sweeps people on and off, and around the edges they creep in shadow. Not just beautiful to watch, we also have uplifting choral interludes by Jocelyn Pook.
The premise of King Charles III is that, in the weeks between his mother's death and his enthronement, King Charles III falls out with his Parliament. The whole notion is unlikely except... this is a man who talks to plants, challenges the experts in medicine and architecture and the arts, and actively works at changing outcomes for young people. He has a notion of the greater good. What if, after so many years in waiting, he overestimates the power of the Crown? What if Prince William, advised by a steely Kate with the wit and guile of Lady Macbeth, takes him on? The bloodbaths chronicled in Shakespeare's histories are gone, but it is just as great a tragedy when William drives down the Mall in his sports car, challenges the bear-skinned sentries at Buckingham Palace, dispatches the single tank in the courtyard, and storms his father's office.In conclusion: Tim Piggott Smith as King Charles III is moving as well as funny and Oliver Steel's tough-love William is elegantly nuanced. Lydia Wilson gives Kate a whole new dimension and Richard Goulding is a charming Prince Harry. Changes in mood and pace in the first half make it feel uneven, but the second is an absolute classic. And tragic.
References
There are no tickets left for this play, but it's always worth contacting the Almeida for returns.
Almeida Theatre, Almeida Street, London N1 1TA. Run ends 31 May.
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