Fans of 'The Crown' will find many familiar moments in work by the same playwright
Winston Churchill (Matt DeCaro) and Margaret Thatcher (Susie McMonagle) are two of the eight prime ministers who meet with Queen Elizabeth II (Janet Ulrich Brooks) during "The Audience," on stage through Oct. 20 at Drury Lane Theatre. Visit www.drurylanetheatre.com for tickets or more information. (photos by Brett Beiner courtesy of Carol Fox & Associates)
Every week for the entirety of her reign, Queen Elizabeth II met with her prime minister. No one was privy to the discussions that took place in a room on the first floor of Buckingham Palace. But Peter Morgan, before writing "The Crown" for Netflix, based his 2013 play "The Audience" on those imagined conversations.
That play is now on stage at Drury Lane Theatre in Oakbrook Terrace, which handles the work - which played in London's West End and on Broadway starring Helen Mirren - quite well.
The play covers much the same time period as the Netflix series - the 60-year span from the queen's coronation in June 1953 to early 2010s. And it asks many of the same questions as the series does, questions which director Jessica Fisch poses in her notes on the production.
"(I)s it possible to be both a symbol and a person? A postage stamp and a grandmother? And if it is, does that duality take a toll?"
Janet Ulrich Brooks tries to provide some answers with her skilled portrayal of Queen Elizabeth II, while also offering a glimpse of the monarch's intelligence and sense of humor.
"I only ever wanted to be ordinary," Prime Minister John Major, played by John Judd, confesses to the queen in the opening scene.
"In what way do you believe you failed at that ambition?" is her witty reply.
The show is punctuated with many humorous moments, especially while Ron Rains is on stage as Prime Minister Harold Wilson. During Wilson's visit to Balmoral on holiday, there's even a bit with a dog - a corgi, of course, the queen's signature breed.
That scene, and one that depicts a few minutes of Elizabeth's coronation, are the only ones that don't take place in The Audience Room at Buckingham Palace. The simple, elegant set serves as an effective backdrop for the substance of the show - the weekly meetings between the queen and her prime ministers.
The play depicts meetings between the queen and eight of the 12 prime ministers that served during her reign. (Audience members interested in learning a bit more about them will appreciate the brief bios of each in the Playbill.)
While a few of these discussions are lighthearted, many are quite serious, dealing with the waning of the British empire, sending troops to the Suez canal, Prince Charles' divorce from Princess Diana and the country's struggling economy. At times, the queen's knowledge and intelligence take her prime ministers by surprise.
"I read every piece of paper in every box every day," she tells Prime Minister Anthony Eden, played by Mark Ulrich.
At other times, her skill in offering support to the prime ministers - as she is constitutionally obligated to do - while conveying her own opinions is masterful.
"You have a way of saying nothing and making your views perfectly clear," Prime Minister David Cameron (Alex Goodrich) tells her.
Brooks has her work cut out for her in this role, portraying a woman whose age spans from 25 to 86 over the course of the show. She is too old to play the youngest Elizabeth and too young to play the oldest. Yet she handles it all with aplomb.
The prime ministers are well played, especially by Goodrich in his brief but humorous rendering of Tony Blair and Susie McMonagle as Margaret Thatcher. The conversation between Thatcher and the queen is one of the more pointed ones in the play. Thatcher is upset about an incriminating story in the Sunday Times. The queen is upset, too.
"Couldn't you have supported me just once?" she asks her only female prime minister.
One theme that runs throughout the show is the contrast between the prime minister as an elected politician and the queen who believes her power as a ruler comes from God.
"A coronation is a consecration that takes place in God's house," the queen notes.
The play notably lacks appearances by any other members of the Royal Family, who, of course, would not be present during her audiences. But by focusing solely on these meetings, Morgan conveys a sense of just how alone the queen is in her role as sovereign.
We do get a glimpse of a young Elizabeth, charmingly played by Omi Lichtenstein at the press opening. Her comments on the limitations of life in the castle offer insight into the sacrifices the adult Elizabeth has been required to make as queen.
"The Audience" gives audiences much to think about - including the challenge of maintaining "the invisibility required to execute the most visible job in the world" - along with two hours of very enjoyable theater.
