King Charles III
Mike Bartlett
 |
| Robert Joy as Charles |
With a requiem mass echoing majestically all around them,
the “future history” play opens with the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and a
line-up of royals stoically mourning with no shown emotion. William, who confides to us that “my life has been a lingering for the
throne,” has his first official meeting with the Prime Minister – a meeting
where he discovers two bits of news that do sit well at all in the head that is
soon to be resident of the kingdom’s crown.
As it turns out, as king it is his constitutional duty to sign all bills
passed by Parliament even if he disagrees with them; and the first one looking
for his pen and putting new restrictions on the freedom of the press is one he
immediately dislikes in no uncertain terms.
The fact that he refuses to do what his mother always did and just sign
on the dotted line leads to unforeseen repercussions in the hallowed halls of
Parliament, in the streets outside his very palace’s walls, and in the
sanctuary of his own family’s quarters.
The ultimate outcome of his noble stand based his notion of historical
role of his to-be nobility becomes a script with twists he does not foresee –
especially when his former wife returns in ghostly form to declare to him,
“You’ll be the greatest king we’ve ever had.”
With reddened eyes deep set that join with bushy eyebrows expressively
to emote their own emotion, passion, and determination, Robert Joy brings to stage
life a Charles that may surprise an audience who will attempt to compare him to
the real-life Charles we have watched waiting in the shadows for years finally
to rule. This Charles is forthright and
daring and is willing to push beyond boundaries his mother never crossed in
order to make his opinions known. He is
animated with waving hands and shows alacrity of full body movement as he makes
clear his points and presses his questions for understanding the ins and outs
of a constitution that is sometimes more tradition-defined than chronicled in
ink. With a voice that can ring with new-found authority as well as embrace
with heart-felt affection, he also carries a face that maps in its well-worn
grooves years of waiting and preparation for this very moment and lights up in
color and brilliance as his courage to act increases. Mr. Joy is stellar in these and a dozen more
dimensions that all add up to a performance near perfect.
Around him is a cast full of actors who each bring
authenticity, intrigue, and individual nuance to their characters. In contrast to his father’s fully expressed
passions, tall and handsome Prince William (Christopher McLinden) is much more
reserved, almost statuesque, and quite formal -- at least until the ambition of
his wife persuades him to rev up his gears to fuller velocity. His brother, Prince Harry, is in the mold of
Prince Hal of Shakespeare fame and of the reputation of the real Harry Windsor
we read about in the tabloids. Harry
Smith is outstanding in his rambunctious, rebellious rendering of a prince who
wants out of palace walls and their age-old expectations and instead wants a
life of fast food restaurants, a suburban home, and a possible wife from a
no-name family.
The women paired with all three of the royal men are great
contrasts among themselves, each being a power and influence behind her
man. Michelle Beck is a nightclub
surprise meet-up for Harry named Jessica who immediately besots him in ways
that even surprise her. She brings a
confidence of her own self, an inherent depth of wisdom and intuition, and a
sense of street-learned adventure (as well as a lot of sexy instincts to match
and play well into Harry’s hormonal risings).
Jeanne Paulsen is the loyal, quick-to-defend wife of
Charles, Camilla, a step-mother clearly not that loved and only tolerated by
Diana’s sons. Her non-royal but quite
gentrified bloodline shows in her perfectly poised dignity, exacting speech
spoken from deep in the throat, and definite opinions about her husband’s
legitimacy to assert his kingly rights.
Rounding out this female trio is Kate (Allison Jean White),
the Cinderella bride of William whom all the country seems to adore. Kate has the ability to hide behind her beauty
a calculating, no-holes-barred ability to do whatever necessary to be sure the
next king and queen will be whom she believes they should be.
Three others are pulling puppet strings to manipulate to
their desired outcome Charles’ decision not to sign the press freedom
bill. Ian Merrill Peakes is Prime
Minister Evans who comes to have tea and a perfunctory weekly chat with the new
king-to-be and walks away with neck reddened, veins popping, and hands in
frozen grips of frustration. His chief
rival in Parliament, opposition leader Mr. Stevens (Bradford Farwell), is all
smiles in his confidential suggestions of tactics to a grateful Charles but
shows his sleazy side as politician as he loudly opposes the next throne’s
inhabitant when put in front of cameras, press, and fellow politicians. And with hints of treachery akin to Othello’s
Iago, James Reiss (Dan Hiatt) is Charles’ palace secretary who carries behind
his all-seeing, always-judging, tight-faced countenance the willingness to
betray for a good he sees greater than personal loyalty. All three of these veteran actors play their
parts to the hilt in convincing, conniving manners.
Every aspect of this stunning production by a stellar,
creative team of artists is worthy of headline accolades. Daniel Ostling’s set is massively impressive
with its kingly statues looking down from their high-perched alcoves onto the
arch-filled walls of an inner Buckingham hall.
Lap Chi Chu’s lighting design is flawless in execution and regal in its
results as eyes are shifted to catch singular stage moments or are opened wide
to take in full-stage, lusciously lit grandeur.
Without a doubt, the play would lose much of its overall
sense of awe without the original music and design by Mark Bennett as the
sounds of ceremony, protest, and parliamentarians all surround and engulf with
crystal clarity at the needed times. The
costumes of every day life and royal proceedings have been magnificently generated
by Jennifer Moeller’s imagination and impeccable sense of style. Finally, the moments of tension and
tenderness, of suspense and surprise, and of tough calls and tough love
masterfully come to be due to the directorial prowess of David Muse.
And as if all the above indicators were not enough for even
the casual reader to run to the nearest computer or phone to get a ticket for King Charles III before all the ACT
slots sell out, get ready for the icing on the royal cake. Mike Bartlett’s brilliant script is largely
written in the Bard’s own iambic pentameter verse – full of the kinds of
metaphors, unique phrasings, colorful words, and even occasional rhymed
couplets that the Master’s audiences always love. When delivered by the phenomenal cast of the
American Conservatory Theatre, the music of Shakespeare sings through in the
telling of a tale that William himself would surely have been proud to pen.
Rating: 5 E
King Charles III continues
through October 9, 2016, on the Geary Stage of the American Conservatory
Theatre, 405 Geary Street,
San Francisco. Tickets are available
online at http://www.act-sf.org/ or by calling the box office at 415-749-2228.
Photos Credit: Kevin
Berne
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