The Madness of George III

Synopsis

1788 - King George III is preparing for the opening of parliament with his devoted wife, Queen Charlotte and their 15 children. Despite the picture of respectability all is not well in the palace; not only has the King lost the colonies but he's losing his mind. With the smooth running of Government depending on his sanity and the Prince of Wales increasingly impatient to succeed his father, it's a race against time to get the King fit. The Prime Minister's only hope is a self-taught doctor with some unorthodox methods for curing dementia.

Our Review:

Anne Morley-Priestman - 19 September 2011

Revivals can sometimes be stronger than the original productions. That’s certainly the case with Christopher Luscombe’s staging of Alan Bennett’s The Madness of George III. Janet Bird’s simple, stylised settings combined with authentic-looking costumes and a superb use of snatches of Handel’s most triumphant music allows the pageant of the British court at the end of the 1780s to flare into real life and real people.

But all that’s merely the setting for a towering performance by David Haig of the king. It’s an extraordinary portrayal of a man with enormous responsibilities who suffered from physical as well as mental torments and then found himself completely at the mercy of the worst which contemporary medical science could inflict on him. Standing ovations at the curtain calls are often contrived. This one was earned, and thoroughly deserved.

That George III carries some of the blame for the activities of th...

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Latest User Review

Judy Rogers - 22 September 2011:

Amazing, Stupendous, Brilliant! Loved every moment:) David Haig is perfectly cast and utterly believeable....

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