A REFORMING Prime Minister craving just five more years, doctors struggling to understand a mysterious mental illness and political wrangling that wouldn’t look out of place in the House of Commons today.
The Madness of George III may be set in 1788 but its themes still resonate now.
Monday, November 8, will see the first ever national tour of Alan Bennett’s play arrive at the Palace Theatre, Westcliff, for a three-night run starring Simon Ward and Susan Penhaligon.
“It’s incredibly exciting,” says Simon, who is taking on the weighty mantle of King George.
“It’s daunting obviously, because so many people saw the original production at the National Theatre or the film, and were bowled over by Nigel Hawthorne’s performance.
“If you ask people if they have any memory of George III, 99 per cent of the population will name his performance. But it is just a wonderful play because Bennett seems able to blend the tragic and the comic so perfectly.”
The play, which Bennett adapted for the acclaimed film version, the Madness of King George, tells the story of George III and his struggles as a mysterious madness starts to affect his behaviour and throws the fate of England into the balance.
As doctors struggle to diagnose the illness, now thought to possibly have been caused by blood disease porphyria, politicians battle against each other.
And Simon, most famous for his Bafta and Golden Globe nominated title role in the 1972 film Young Winston, says many of the political battles strike a chord today.
He explains: “There’s a wonderful line when Pitt says, ‘I only needed five more years’. Well he could have been in the House of Commons that afternoon.
“There are so many small political jokes where you think are we talking about the arguments in 2010?”
Simon says he was drawn into the life of the King who enjoyed simple pleasures – his family and his religion included – and feels pained by what he had to suffer.
The Madness of George III, Palace Theatre, London Road, Westcliff.
£12.50-£19.50 Mon until Wed 8pm. Wed mat 2.30pm.
01702 351135
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