There was an item on the radio this morning about the success that the play King Charles III is currently having on Broadway.  This was attributed not only to the Americans' interest in (or even fascination about) our Royals but to the resonance the play has with the American foundation story.

According to the radio some factions would have not have fought against Britain had the King overruled the parliament's taxation of the colonies as they requested and the veto powers of the US president are a reflection of that.  That's what the play is about.  The King and Parliament at odds and I just happened to see it last night.

I knew nothing about it before I went apart from what the five stars puffs on the publicity told me and those I always regard as undoubtedly partial.  It's a fine production in many ways.  I particularly enjoyed the very theatrical opening when the cast come on dressed in black, carrying candles and start singing the Agnus Dei in Latin.  We are at the obsequies for the late Queen.

When they started to speak English I was a bit puzzled until I realised it was blank verse.  So it's mock Shakespeare then?  Well no, I'm sure the writer had no intention of mocking the Bard.  Like mock Tudor it's admiration and of course Shakespeare's history plays are all about Kingship and the relationships within royal ranks and power and whatnot.  This play is billed as a future history and it's very much done in a Shakespearean style and staging.

The language didn't always sit easily in my ear.  The Kate Middleton character for instance frequently addresses William as "husband".  To me that just sounded foolishly archaic.  Nor would I call any of 
the soliloquies poetic but it's an interesting listen.

The stalls were half empty, perhaps reflecting a lack of much interest in the monarchy amongst younger theatregoers because the audience had a greyish tinge. Whatever the reason it didn't help the atmosphere and a few guffaws broke out at one or two more melodramatic moments that do well in Macbeth or Hamlet but here required more suspension of disbelief than this audience was willing or able to summon up.

The final scene is a coronation and like the opening it's very theatrical and brings a sense of power and majesty to the climax of the play.

Seats in the Festival theatre are not very comfortable. That doesn't bother me when I'm fully engaged with a show but last night I had more than a touch of numb bum.

But the critics' bums are not in tune with mine as you'll see from this review and many others. Maybe the original cast would have done it for me but they're wowing audiences on Broadway.