Feature

The Madness of George III

Even as the king “descends into hysteria and despair,” he seems only a little more deranged than the world surrounding him, said James Hebert in The San Diego Union-Tribune. 

The Old Globe
San Diego
(619) 234-5623

**

The downfall of King George III of England mirrors that of another tortured monarch—King Lear, said Daryl Miller in the Los Angeles Times. Alan Bennett’s 1991 play imitates Shakespeare’s work by painting George’s descent into mental illness as a gradual process that’s accelerated by “backroom maneuvering” in his court. George at first seems likable, albeit “warped by the ego inflation inherent in a king’s life” and still reeling from the loss of the American Colonies. His insane, erratic conduct, however, puts him at the mercy of power-hungry rivals and barbarically ignorant physicians. Bennett’s sensitive account of a troubled soul brims with “psychological complexities.” Yet here director Adrian Noble “seems merely intent on squeezing out laughs” from the supporting cast, diminishing this affecting drama to a “sort of 18th-century political cartoon.”

True, this production does not possess “the heft of the Bard,” said James Hebert in The San Diego Union-Tribune. Noble essentially treats it not as a bio-drama but as a biting satire of the conniving, fractious courtiers—here “expertly acted” by an ensemble that includes several students from the University of San Diego. Andrew Dahl turns the Prince of Wales into a hilariously “vapid fashion plate” who acts more like a spoiled toddler than heir to the throne, while a trio of darkly comic, bloodletting doctors (Bruce Turk, Joseph Marcell, and Adrian Sparks) are “too absurd for words.” What keeps the lighter elements grounded, however, is Miles Anderson’s “committed and commanding performance” as George III. Even as the king “descends into hysteria and despair,” he seems only a little more deranged than the world surrounding him.

Recommended

Is the U.S. running out of ammunition?
Cargo of ammunition, weapons and other equipment bound for Ukraine waiting on a tarmac at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware
Today's big question

Is the U.S. running out of ammunition?

France aspires to work by working less. Is it working?
Paris city center
In depth

France aspires to work by working less. Is it working?

How Ukraine's looming counteroffensive could reshape Russia's war
Ukraine counteroffensive
In depth

How Ukraine's looming counteroffensive could reshape Russia's war

A company made a meatball from lab-grown woolly mammoth, and you can't try it
Mammoth meatball
'extinct protein'

A company made a meatball from lab-grown woolly mammoth, and you can't try it

Most Popular

How to watch 5 planets align in the night sky on Tuesday
Moon, Jupiter, Venus.
skyline

How to watch 5 planets align in the night sky on Tuesday

'Rewilding' animals could help combat climate change, study finds
Two gray wolves.
where the wild things are

'Rewilding' animals could help combat climate change, study finds

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe is going to be a dad
Erin Darke and Daniel Radcliffe
harry potter and the dadly hallows

Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe is going to be a dad