With the historical context lucidly sketched in, Bennett gives himself rein to indulge in scatology and some flagrant anachronisms, and the plays oscillations between humour and pathos are nicely captured here. Willis (Clive Francis), a parson-cum-medic who has his own unorthodox approach to the Kings mysterious condition.īy turns irreverent and sympathetic, Bennetts serio-comic vision of Georges predicament is well conveyed in Luscombes nimble, no-nonsense production. The Queen (Beatie Edney) remains loyal, but when she and George are separated, the Kings best hopes appear to lie with one Dr. The PM Pitt (Nicholas Rowe) attempts to reassure Parliament of the Kings sanity while his Whig rival Fox (Gary Oliver) argues that the petulant Prince of Wales (Christopher Keegan) should take over as monarch. While his physicians advocate crackpot methods - including blistering, purgatives and sweats - to cure his condition, a wider political crisis erupts.
Already tormented by the loss of the American colonies, George III finds his equilibrium further tested by the onset of alarming mood swings and erratic acts: he disrupts concerts, gropes the Queens Lady of the Bedchamber (Charlotte Asprey) and generally appears to be losing his wits. The action takes place in the late 1780s. But Christopher Luscombes new production - which closed the 2011 season for the Peter Hall Company at Bath and is now on a national tour - succeeds in carving out its own niche, and boasts a central performance by David Haig that, while not displacing memories of Hawthorne in the role, still constitutes a vivid, gripping interpretation in its own right. The iconic status of Hawthornes performance in both the stage and the screen versions may explain why Bennetts play has seldom been seen since that initial staging. Hawthornes Olivier award-winning performance transferred equally successfully to film indeed, one critic described the actor's close-ups in the film version as the best argument for cinema over theatre that I can think of.
One such is Nigel Hawthornes tour-de-force turn in Alan Bennetts The Madness of George III, a play first staged by Nicholas Hytner at the National Theatre in 1991 and later immortalised on film as The Madness of King George (for the benefit of those confused by Roman numerals). Some productions and performances cast long shadows.
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