King Charles III – 'wickedly entertaining' royal drama

Almeida's new comedy drama on the future on the monarchy 'fascinating' and 'brilliant', say critics

King Charles III play
(Image credit: JOHAN PERSSON)

What you need to knowA new comedy drama about the future of the monarchy King Charles III has opened at the Almeida Theatre, London. The play is written by Mike Bartlett, best known for the ITV drama The Town.

King Charles III takes the form of a Shakespearean history play and uses it to imagine the difficult early days after Prince Charles finally becomes king. Charles wants to reassert the role of the monarchy with disastrous results.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

What the critics like "Bold, brilliant and unstoppably entertaining", Bartlett's new play has all the intrigue and momentum of a real historical play, says Dominic Maxwell in The Times. It makes us care, makes us laugh, and no doubt will make us argue too - theatre doesn't get much better than this.

"It is the most spectacular, gripping and wickedly entertaining piece of lese-majeste that British theatre has ever seen," says Charles Spencer in the Daily Telegraph. The play manages to be moving as well as funny, and is given a superb, high-definition production by Goold.

It is, of course, all fantasy, but it "raises fascinating questions about the future of the monarchy", says Michael Billington in The Guardian. And it acquires a borrowed grandeur through its Shakespearean form and a tragic dimension thanks to the performance of Tim Pigott-Smith.

What they don't like The playfulness of King Charles III "occasionally borders on the glib", says Sam Marlowe on ArtsDesk. It's unquestionably clever, but it sometimes feels like a game of chess and a disengaging air of contrivance creeps in.

Explore More