The King’s Speech

When the film came out little was made of the fact that it had been written and performed originally as a play, and as a film it was hard to see how it could be done on stage. Now David Siedler’s original play has been staged in a production that shimmers with star quality, from the cast to the brilliant set.

At the core of the play is the story of King George VI’s stammer, but at its heart is the story of the strange world encompassing the Royal Family. Edward VIII, later the Duke of Windsor, demands his rights only to be told that he has no rights, only privileges. Whilst on the surface Bertie and Lionel Logue – the Australian speech therapist – battle with the stammer, below water the machinations of church and government are conspiring to get the King that they want and retain control of a monarchy that is already aware that it is becoming merely a toothless pageant.

The play gives so much more than the film. The threat of Hitler is eerily powerful but more so the revelation that the Duke of Windsor was thought to be plotting to return to Britain as Hitler’s chosen leader after a successful German invasion.

Lionel Logue is the channel through which the new King, after the abdication of his brother, is able to embark on a role for which he was never prepared. But despite being based on fact this surely has much invention? Were Logue’s humanizing achievements real? Surely George VI would have ensured that his family, our current sovereign, would be far better prepared for the modern work, the fickle nature of the heart and a society where morals were changing and leaving the confines of the royal court far behind?

Superbly executed, complex in its seamless shifts of time and place and with a superb cast, this is unmissable theatre of the highest order. In a company this good, singling out members for praise seems silly, but Charles Edwards, Jonathan Hyde and Emma Fielding are truly outstanding and Michael Feast certainly puts the arch into archbishop. Unmissable stuff!

Theatre Royal Brighton, 27 February 2012
Rating:
Andrew Kay