Fresh from an airing at the Open Stages Festival in Stratford-upon-Avon, this is a show that has been riding high. The spirit of Shakespeare is evident from the very start, when it is clear that this is homage to the old bard’s style but with a spark and wit that is completely its own. It is ostensibly the story of the Royal Family’s in-fighting in the Nineties, but this is just one element in a keen satirical look at the emergence of polished media control, and the desperate attempts of the Windsors and Conservatives to understand it, counterpointed by the innate abilities of Diana and Blair to bend it to their wills.
There is a bold mix of styles throughout: live music, abstract representations of newspapers, impersonations, news reports, real speeches and blank verse conversation all play a part. That they knit together is because of the strong theme of the media-driven world that permeates events, and of course the historical context which is so familiar. The issues discussed are genuinely fascinating and I was particularly pleased by the sympathy with which everyone was portrayed. We can draw our own judgements, but all parties are given a fair airing.
Stephen Russell stands out as Major and Blair – hilarious but also quite moving, especially as a poor, desolate Major. William Baltyn similarly brings some warmth and humanity to a Prince Charles who can do nothing but watch the changing world slip away from him. Combined with the incisive political and social commentary and the nostalgic pop music, this is a really quite affecting and thought-provoking show. The venue suffered from the sounds of nearby trains and bad-tempered plumbing but the energy of the performance was amore than a match for this.
The central story is one that most are familiar with but that did sometimes suck some of the momentum from the play. A few scenes were more about the playfulness of the situation itself than driving forward a plot that was already so predetermined. In most cases this was beneficial, allowing the comedy and music to come more to the fore, but it did occasionally feel like a compilation of clips rather than a tight narrative – events happening because, well, they happened. However, as a vehicle for teasing apart the complexities of politics at the close of the millennium the show worked fantastically.
