The Queen is dead. After a lifetime of waiting, Prince Charles ascends the throne. A future of power lies before him... but how to rule?
Winner of the 2015 Olivier Award for Best Play, King Charles III is the "bracingly provocative and outrageously entertaining" (The Independent) drama of political intrigue by Mike Bartlett that comes to Broadway following a sensational West End run. Directed by Rupert Goold and deemed "the most insightful and engrossing new history play in decades" by Ben Brantley of The New York Times, this "bold and brilliant" (The Times of London) production explores the people underneath the crowns, the unwritten rules of Britain's democracy and the conscience of its most famous family.
Director Rupert Goold's ingeniously abstract staging calls upon the players in this Almeida Theater production to amplify -- even to the point of parody -- the correlation of the real-life characters they play to the Shakespearean models they're based on. Prince Harry (Richard Goulding), cavorting with his Falstaffian friends, embodies the very soul and image of Henry IV. Will and Kate effortlessly transform themselves into the Macbeths. And all the politicians who betray Charles represent all the court villains who brought down the ill-fated kings in the history plays. There's even a tragic parental ghost and some wicked witches to dispense bad advice.
Mike Bartlett begins his play unpromisingly with yet another of those weekly meetings between a prime minister and a modern monarch. In this case, however, the monarch isn't Queen Elizabeth but her son Charles, who is suddenly king because his 89-year-old mom is now dead. How prescient of Bartlett.
2015 | Broadway |
Original Broadway Production Broadway |
Year | Ceremony | Category | Nominee |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Play | Tim Pigott-Smith |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Director of a Play | Rupert Goold |
2016 | Drama Desk Awards | Outstanding Play | King Charles III |
2016 | Drama League Awards | Distinguished Performance Award | Tim Pigott-Smith |
2016 | Drama League Awards | Outstanding Production of a Broadway or Off-Broadway Play | Mike Bartlett |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Costume Design (Play or Musical) | Tom Scutt |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding Director of a Play | Rupert Goold |
2016 | Outer Critics Circle Awards | Outstanding New Broadway Play | Mike Bartlett |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Costume Design of a Play | Tom Scutt |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Direction of a Play | Rupert Goold |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play | Richard Goulding |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play | Tim Pigott-Smith |
2016 | Tony Awards | Best Play | Mike Bartlett |
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