Review: Seattle Rep's KING CHARLES III Fails to Live Up to the Hype

There's always a danger in any kind of entertainment that the show will be hyped up so much that when you finally see it, it cannot possibly live up to the image in your mind. I largely think such is the issue with my lack of zeal over "King Charles III", currently playing at the Seattle Rep. I had heard so much about this one on how funny and original it was but instead what I got was a play that while interesting, felt long winded and only offered me a few scant chuckles.

Mike Bartlett's play follows the hypothetical future of the British Royal Family following the death of Queen Elizabeth. The monarchy now falls in line to Charles (Robert Joy) who feels there may be a better way to do things with his new rule. Specifically when the Prime Minister (Ian Merrill Peakes) arrives with a new privacy bill for the King to sign that would impose restrictions on the press, the King feels it too harsh and refuses to sign it even though it's been voted in by Parliament. And so the tug of war of power begins as the King feels it's his job to rule the land while the politicians feel he should remain the figurehead the role has always taken on. And, of course, he's surrounded by the rest of the House of Windsor with Camilla (Jeanne Paulsen) urging him on to greatness, Prince William and Kate (Christopher McLinden and Allison Jean White) attempting to steer the king back to the old ways, and Prince Harry (Harry Smith) trying to find his place in this world while keeping his name out of the papers.

Bartlett tells this possible future through a Shakespearean eye with the dialog echoing the style and the storylines resembling plot points from Shakespearean plays such as "Hamlet", "Richard III" and "Macbeth" and this is where my first point of contention lies. Sure, it resembles Shakespeare but Bartlett is not Shakespeare and so the dialog and conveyance of the plot feels long-winded. Add to that my feeling that the story is interesting but not all that complicated or new and I found myself wanting that this 2 hour and 40 minute show would just get to the point already.

Director David Muse does a descent job with the pace of the piece but I wonder what kind of show he was trying to put forth. Was this a comedy, an indictment of the Royals, homage to the bard? I'm really not certain as no one really hooked into an intent of the piece making it about as interesting as watching the actual Royal Family and Parliament. And I have to question the technical choice to blast the audience with brief musical interludes between scenes. It's not that big of a house, no need to deafen us.

Joy delivers an interesting portrayal of the supposed King but tended to get stuck in the role of a petulant child. Smith too as Prince Harry tended to get mired in one note as his static delivery and cadence made Harry come across as stupid and not searching. Peakes does a good job as the frustrated Prime Minister but isn't given much other than being frustrated to deal with. Honestly the most fleshed out and layered performances came from McLinden and White as William and Kate.

When all is said and done I'm just not an anglophile. I'm not fascinated by the inner workings of the Royal Family or British politics and so a hypothetical on those subjects does little for me and this, coupled with the meandering nature of the piece, leads me to give a disinterested MEH+ with my three letter rating system to the Seattle Rep's production of "King Charles III". Maybe the hype lead me astray. Maybe it's just not my thing and an anglophile would get more out of it. But this theater-phile wanted more.

"King Charles III" performs at the Seattle Rep through December 18th. For tickets or information contact the Seattle Rep box office at 206-443-2222 or visit them online at www.seattlerep.org.

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