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Friday 19 April 2013

A Postcard from London and "The Audience" with the Queen.


We had an Audience with the Queen, well....Helen Mirren to be precise but it may well have been , her performance was not only flawless but absolutely riveting. 
Helen Mirren was asked to reprise her role as the Queen by Stephen Daldry (the director)but this time for stage and not screen at the Gielgud Theatre on London's Shaftesbury Avenue.

The play is based around the Queen's weekly meetings with her Prime Minister(every Tuesday except for Tony Blair who insisted on moving it to Wednesday....Tony Blair is not featured in this play but mentioned here and there):
" ...His wife, Cheryl..."
"That's Cheri mam..."
"Ah!"



These weekly sessions(that no one is privy to nor are there any records of the conversations held...) have been going on since Sir Winston Churchill (played by the wonderfully enigmatic Edward Fox) to the present day. Only 7 of the  Prime Ministers are portrayed  and quite accurately I must add, including David Cameron .

This is not a serious play, it is tongue in cheek,funny and also extremely touching . The set design is absolutely breathtaking as is Helen Mirren's swift "on stage" change of costumes. I don't want to spoil it for you and give it all away but it has you remembering the Queen in her youth,her hopes,her aspirations and how she may have felt trapped within the hallowed walls of Buckingham Palace.
This really is a beautiful, first class production with marvellous professional actors ....the standing ovation was a given.




NB:
What is it with people who seem to be in perfect health while the lights are on  only to succumb to debilitating coughs once they are dimmed and the curtain is up!???
And there were plenty that night...does it have to do with the A/C?...who knows  but you can hardly shout out:
"Shut It!!!" with Helen Mirren on stage....
 I mean "Mam"...