/ 17 March 1995

Royal madness afflicts Capab

THEATRE: Guy Willoughby

OUT of the slough of despond once called Capab Drama=20 comes a dull, draughty production of Alan Bennett’s=20 superb historical play, The Madness of George III. This=20 rendition offers scant help to the local cause of=20 ”Eurocentric” culture, confirming rather that we don’t=20 have the resources to mount this kind of work — not at=20 Capab, at any rate.

Let me say at the outset that the play is a rich, witty=20 and penetrating inquiry into the politics of Georgian=20 England, and that Michael Atkinson is fine and strong=20 in the starring role of poor, batty old George. (Well,=20 not batty really — he has the rare metabolic disease=20 porphyria, and one of the riches of the play is its=20 exposure of the weird state of psychopathology in the=20 18th century.)

Atkinson runs away with a part designed, it seems, for=20 him. His George is a cleverly executed blend of regal=20 bearing and doddering inanity — a man convinced he’s=20 every inch the king, if he can only remember where he=20 put his stockings. =20

It’s a complex, moving, troubled performance, and=20 poignantly captures the last gasp of the medieval=20 concept of royalty, with its aura of the Lord’s=20

Part of George’s personal burden is a keen sense that=20 he has fumbled his chances — he’s the king who lost=20 America, after all — and that, after him, the monarchy=20 will slide even deeper into irrelevance.

While jackal politicians wrangle for power, George is=20 depressed by the thought that his heir (another George=20 — the spendthrift, dandified Prince of Wales) will=20 simply turn kingship into a fashion statement, an=20 opportunity to wear outfits and spend money.=20 Constitutional monarchy starts here, in the 1780s, and=20 to ailing King George it isn’t a pretty sight.

The most delicious interplay on stage occurs between=20 the king and his ghastly, pleasure-doting son, the=20 latter most artfully recreated by John Caviggia as a=20 kind of primped and mincing eunuch. Caviggia positively=20 spits malevolence, and Atkinson’s King George bays back=20 with noisy, querulous fury. It’s a pity these two=20 aren’t on stage together more often.

George’s queen, the dumpy German hausfrau Charlotte, is=20 played in a suitable muddle of amiability by Diane=20 Wilson; otherwise, Atkinson has hardly anyone to=20 grapple with, to test his actorly mettle, in this=20 production. There are 25 performers on the stage, and=20 it would improve matters if most of them weren’t there.=20 This may be a horrid thing to say, but it’s true.

Ronald France, playing the sinister and tyrannical Dr=20 Willis, is flat and unimaginitive; Philip Boucher’s Sir=20 George Baker, the royal physician, merely wheezes=20 without variation; the prime minister, Richard Farmer,=20 seems to be talking in his sleep, and the firebrand=20 politician, Charles James Fox, is played by David=20 Muller with an unremitting bluster that soon palls.

Whether it’s the fault of actors or director (Ralph=20 Lawson), the production moves at a stately but leaden=20 pace, with the many change-overs of scene being=20 especially laboured. I mean, George’s court may have=20 been boring but there’s no need to wear out the=20 audience too.=20

Peter Cazalet’s set segments the stage without purpose,=20 and does little to enliven the pedestrian atmosphere.

All of which brings us rudely back from 18th century=20 Whigs and Tories to the murky politics of Capab, in=20 which actors are being treated as pawns in some=20 desperate gamble for more state sponsorship. (You’ll=20 know that Capab sacked all their performers two weeks=20

Really, if the local Performing Arts Board can’t muster=20 a better cast, it is a sheer waste of time mounting=20 this kind of play. Judging from the shabby way in which=20 they treat their own permanent company, Capab hasn’t=20 much to spend on contracted actors, and it shows.

Another thing: The Madness of George III is the local=20 premiere of a celebrated new play, soon to be seen on=20 screen with Nigel Hawthorne, ex-South Africa, in the=20 lead role. Little of this sense of occasion emanates=20 from Capab — little has been done, I think, to win an=20 audience for a drama that’s not exactly bursting with=20 obvious local relevance.=20

It’s a poor show, Capab, in more ways than one.