Quarantine Theatre: National Theatre at Home: The Madness of King George

This is the saddest play I ever saw. Though not as moving a king as Nigel Hawthorne in the film, certainly in the first half of the play; by the second half, Mark Gatiss had me full of emotion for a man who knows that he isn't himself and is aware of his suffering, I was definitely on the side of the courtier continually reminding the horde of politicians and doctors who almost doubled as politicians around the King, of the patient's humanity, wishes, personhood.

This play depicts the family infighting, the politicking of the doctors and statesmen around the king and the word games that are played to present the king's condition as less than it is. Also the widely differing medical thoughts and opinions at the time; how the treatments often promote more suffering than healing and makes us question how much a constitutional sovereign should be obeyed when they are very, very unwell.

Some unusual casting in that the male doctors and some of the politicians were played by women disguised in 18th century male dress. Perhaps the play lost something by reducing the king's family down to two sons - what did his many daughters think? Also only one female courtier, when they would have been surrounded by a vast entourage of higher and lower level servants. The relationship between the king and queen is treated tenderly, though many people are very rude about the king's faithfulness to his wife and about the queen's lack of looks, and ironically it is politics which brings the king back to his senses. The oversized movable Georgian sets again remind us that this royal life is about presentation and politics.