Mike Bartlett’s ‘future history play’ explores the people beneath the crowns, the unwritten rules of our democracy, and the conscience of Britain’s most famous family.
Queen Elizabeth II is dead. After a lifetime of waiting, her son ascends the throne. A future of power. But how to rule?
Drawing on the style and structure of a Shakespearean history play, King Charles III opened at London’s Almeida Theatre, directed by its Artistic Director Rupert Goold, in April 2014, before transferring to the West End.
The play went on to win Best New Play at both the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards and the Olivier Awards. It also won the South Bank Sky Arts Theatre Award.
‘Outstanding and provocative… the most spectacular, gripping and wickedly entertaining piece of lèse-majesté that British theatre has ever seen’
— Telegraph
‘Bold, brilliant and unstoppably entertaining… an intelligent, empathetic, moving look at the power and limitations of the modern monarchy… theatre doesn’t get much better than this’
— The Times
‘Extraordinary… a meaty, hilarious, dizzyingly audacious state of the nation political thriller’
— Time Out
‘Royally entertaining… raises fascinating questions about the future of the monarchy’
— Guardian
‘Scintillating and highly ambitious… a brilliant, provocative piece of drama’
— Financial Times
‘Wonderfully original… Bartlett’s brilliant text pulses with Shakespearean resonances… a right royal triumph’
— The Stage
‘Pitch-perfect… bracingly provocative and outrageously entertaining’
— Independent
Best New Play, Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards
Best New Play, Olivier Awards
