King Charles III on PBS Masterpiece Sunday, May 14

[+ oldNbusted]

Looking forward to seeing Tim Pigot-Smith as well as all the fuss. Like a lot of American's, I have a mild fascination with the British monarchy and I love alternate history, although in this case it's future history.

[foxy]

Thanks for the heads up. Saw the play on Broadway and I look forward to seeing it again. It's a fascinating "fantasy" play that seems like something that could come true. Guess who comes off as Lady Macbeth?

[+ oldNbusted]

Well, I haven't seen it yet, so no spoilers!

[+ beethoven]

I enjoyed the play on Broadway. A British friend of mine, who has recently seen it on British TV, referred to Charles as "a cetacean beached by the tides of history." Love that metaphor!

[foxy]

So...........?

[+ WilliamM]

I did not see the play on Broadway, but very much enjoyed tonight's program. It seemed wrong to me that Charles, after waiting so long to be king and aware of how his mother did the job, would so lightly break with tradition. But, Charles is an especially complicated man.

 

Very satisfy evening.

[foxy]

I liked that it was done in blank verse. Also seemed appropriate that Kate turned out to be the strongest member of the family. In reality I bet she is too. It will be interesting to see what really happens when (and if) the queen dies. Sad that Tim Pigott Smith died so soon and so relatively young.

[actor61]

I liked that it was done in blank verse. Also seemed appropriate that Kate turned out to be the strongest member of the family. In reality I bet she is too. It will be interesting to see what really happens when (and if) the queen dies. Sad that Tim Pigott Smith died so soon and so relatively young.

I saw the play at Chicago Shakespeare Theatre and enjoyed it thoroughly. The t.v. version last night was brilliant, although some of the soliloquies were cut, including Charles's musings after William and Kate's coronation. The idea of the play is ingenious - blank verse, a few rhyming couplets, and the obvious intent to make it in the form of a Shakespeare history play. The ghost of Diana is particularly clever and was used much more in the stage version than the film. The reference to the ghost of Hamlet's father is obvious and makes great sense. Just as Kate becomes Lady M-like, and Camilla is Queen Anne in Richard III - rather pathetic and not quite fitting in.

 

I read somewhere that William and Harry saw the play when it was at the Royal National in London. I wonder what they thought.

 

Is Tim Pigott-Smith dead? He seemed very alive in the after-show interviews last night.

[actor61]

I apologize for my remark above. I just looked up Tim Pigott-Smith and read his obit in the London Times.

[edjames]

A wonderfully written and well acted production. Author Mike Bartlett, author of Cock, has written it in blank verse (unrhymed iambic pentameter), so listen carefully.

Alas, yes, Tim Piggott-Smith passed away very recently (April 7). He is best known for his wonderful portrayal of the sadistic, obsessed, closeted character of Ronald Merrick in the mini series the Jewel and The Crown.

[+ WilliamM]

Mike Bartlett's "King Charles lll" is available in paperback from Amazon. I understand that the play is considerably longer that the TV version.

[foxy]

I thought the tv show was very good but in retrospect I preferred the stage production. There was one set and a minimum of props so your imginaton filled in the rest as I recall. Also it had very interesting music which sounded religious and dirge like. I didn't keep my Playbill unfortunately so I'm not sure if the music was composed for the play. I'll have to look that up but someone might know. I very much enjoy film but have to admit to a prejudice for live theater. I couldn't find any info on the music but did read that the stage production ran 2 hours and 45 minutes. Obviously things had to be left out. When I saw the play it moved along quickly and didn't seem that long. A shame they didn't film it in its entirety. I think some of the exterior shooting could have been left out. It is PBS and I think most viewers have an attention span.

[+ oldNbusted]

As it turned out, it came on at 9 and went off at 11 and I could not stay up that late, so I'll have to watch the DVR recording later.

 

PBS has it posted on their web site until 5/28, I think the site has geolocation limitations, you have to appear to be in the US.

 

http://www.pbs.org/video/3000651434/