I'm getting home from tonight's preview and was completely taken with the play and the performances. This easily ranks up there with the cream of crop of this season so far.
I had seen both Cock and Bull when they played New York, but neither play prepared me for the greatness of Bartlett's work in King Charles III. The piece is conceived like one of Shakespeare's History plays; obviously this one is set in the future, throwing an interesting wrench into the set-up. Bartlett paints a rather terrifying picture of the possible near future, but he peppers it with humor derived from the scathing portrayals of the Royals and members of Parliament. (Please, if you're a Brit chime in and let me know what the Brits really think of these people!)
The acting was uniformly strong across the board with special mentions going to Tim Pigott-Smith as Charles, Richard Goulding as Harry and Lydia Wilson as Kate. All three were perfection and I hope they're remember when award season comes around.
I'll stay quiet about the plot because it will be more fun to go in not knowing the twists and turns. The play begins with the death of Elizabeth and Charles taking over the duties of the monarch. Audiences with the prime minister play a key role, so it's nice that we all had a primer to that tradition last season! And this plays as a nice companion piece to the Mirren vehicle too.
The lighting and sound design were excellent. The costumes were mostly basic black dresses for the women and suits for the men with a few surprises along the way. The set is simple (reminded me of a Wolf Hall) with the scenes being played out on a raised platform in the center of the stage.
Highly recommended, and the $37 seats in the mezz are great.
Marie: Don't be in such a hurry about that pretty little chippy in Frisco.
Tony: Eh, she's a no chip!