The Royal Family

Synopsis

An unruly dynasty of actors who reign supreme on Broadway in the glamorous 1920's is ruled by a formidable lady member.

Our Review:

2 November 2001

The Royal Family could never be accused of gimmicky star casting in the sense of employing Hollywood hitters, soap characters or pop singers, but nonetheless, by British theatregoing standards, casting doesn't get much starrier than this. Peter Bowles, Harriet Walter, Julia McKenzie, Toby Stephens and, of course, Dame Judi Dench - ooh la la.

This esteemed assemblage plays a clan of renowned New York stage actors (based on the Barrymore American acting dynasty) during the theatre heyday of the 1920s. Dench is matriarch Fanny Cavendish, an old trouper combatting an unnamed illness with dreams of a dramatic comeback. Her offspring are Stephens' Anthony, fleeing disillusioned from the silent screens of a fledgling Hollywood, and Walter's Julie, the box office belle of Broadway. Bowles is Dench's brother Herbert Dean and McKenzie his wife Kitty, both also actors, making valiant and amusing efforts to present themselves as younger and more talented than they a...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com - 19 December 2001:

I must admit that I was driven to see The Royal Family simply by the fact that the marvellous Dame Judi Dench headed the cast and I was not dissapointed in that respect, Dame Judi was magnificnet, her sarcastic put-downs never failed to cause laughter and the part when she describes pre-performance nerves is rather touching and gives a glimer of insight into a character which is unfortunately, like all the others, rather 2dimensional in structure. The supurb cast do their best with what they have but what they have in the form of script, plot and storyline is remarkably flimsy. I did leave questioning why such top class performers agreed to star in such a tired empty story, however Judi Dench's performance does make up for it, just about. ...

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