The Audience
On Broadway at The Schoenfeld Theatre
Churchill Off-Broadway at NewWorld Stages
The British are coming, the British are coming.....
My week started seeing one major Brit, Winston Churchill in Churchill to seeing the number one Brit, Queen Elizabeth II in The Audience. There is something so delightful and civilized about the Brits, and while I’m not going to admit any hierarchy in behavioral traits, it just makes me want to sit up straight, pucker up my lips, put on a pair of white gloves and sip on a cup of tea.
This history lesson begins with Churchill, a one-man show, where we see an abbreviated version of life of this very influential British politician. You would have to abbreviate this story, because it could take weeks to detail his many accomplishments, and “top” hats that he wore in his lifetime. Ronald Keaton was delightful in this role, and brought out a kinder, softer side of the man who was often considered gruff and overbearing. He served as the British Prime Minister for a total of 9 years. In addition to his political efforts, he had a love for poetry, painting, writing and his wife Clementine who predeceased him, but not before bearing him 6 children. Whether you are a British or American history buff you are sure to enjoy this one. After all, he was declared an honorary citizen of the United States by JFK, an honor only given to 8 people in history. This was a nice segway into the Royal Palace where I sat down in the audience of The Audience. It was almost as if Churchill had stepped off the stage of New World Stages and onto the Stage at the Schoenfeld. Seeing both of these shows in the same week was totally unintentional, but was an extremely complimentary theatre going experience.
The Audience refers to the weekly private audiences that take place between the Queen and her Prime Minister every Tuesday at Buckingham Palace. During this time the Queen is brought up to speed on the happenings of the week. We become privy to the private audiences that have taken place between Queen Elizabeth II and her Prime Ministers, spanning 60 years, but more so, this is about the personal relationships between the Queen and her 12 Prime Ministers which she affectionately referred to as her dirty dozen (poetic license?). In all there was Churchill, Eden, Wilson, Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown and the current Cameron, but not in that order. Missing were Callaghan, Heath, Douglas-Home, and Macmillan. I’m guessing because they were boring, which is good, because we don’t want to be bored at the theatre, and you certainly will not be bored here. All of the omitted, save Callaghan were conservatives. Just saying.
Helen Mirren is pure beauty and grace in this role. The set design was elegant and tasteful. The grand chandelier took the centerpiece in the audience room, as did the two yellow chairs. The Equerry, the loveable Geoffrey Beevers,was wonderful and also took the role of narrator, and stand up comic. At regular intervals the Footmen would come on the stage and would smoothly make changes to the set. It was little distraction, but just enough not to notice the Queen being magically transformed on the stage from young to mature, to middle aged with gray at the temples and back to young complete with costume changes. A little girl (Sadie Sink) representing the young Elizabeth continued to appear throughout where we see a little girl struggling with the tremendous duties that were to come. The two often stood side by side in perfect sync and it was heartening and a lovely way to win over an audience. I think we all enjoyed a peek at the softer side of the Queen, whether it was concocted or not, it worked.
The production was well thought out and delivered. The meetings were not sequential but everything flowed and was very engaging. It was British humor at its best. The little quips were unending and all very proper. As with any successful production, there were moments of pure wow. The first act ending with the Coronation is one that will stay with me. The Queen seemed to glow in a brilliant display that will take your breath away.
The meetings continue in the second act. We see repeat visits by some of the Prime Ministers, and a visit to Balmoral Castle by Wilson where the Queen becomes fascinated by his photographic memory. It was later alluded that Wilson suffered from early onset Alzheimer’s. You got the impression that the Queen had a special fondness for Wilson, but I’ll let you be the judge. The visit was complete with Corgi dogs. If I had to say there were any bad actors in this production, it was those Corgi’s. Those little buggers were running wild, and clearly were interested in nothing but food. If they were really good actors, you wouldn’t have seen them chewing.
It’s not so easy to be the Queen. She upholds her duty to support her Prime Minister never allowing her personal political views to be spoken. I never thought about it so much as being a job as I thought of it as being an Icon. So I have a new respect for the Queen thanks to Helen Mirren. She is indubitably the best Queen you will ever see. She may even be better than the real one. It must be bittersweet being on the stage with her. You get to work with this brilliant star of stage and screen, and then she totally steals the show.
As I was leaving the theatre, I heard one woman say “that’s the last time I’ll see Margaret Thatcher with a bouffant and a southern accent”. Admittedly, her character was a bit over exaggerated, but so were all of them. That was the point. To take a perhaps very dull bunch of meetings and turn them into something witty and audience friendly while still maintaining the seriousness of the subject matter at hand. Jolly good theatre I’ll say.
In another theatre revelation, you can get a drink here, but don’t expect any ice. It’s a noise issue for the Queen.
For more information and tickets please visit www.churchilltheplay.com and theaudiencebroadway.com You can also check out my website for links to available discounts here -ThisbroadSway 3/2015