National Theatre Live: The Audience

'The Audience' was a completely new discovery for me but really wanted to see it for a good deal of things. Have immense fondness for the National Theatre Live cinema series, of which there are many gems, and love how accessible they are. Also love Helen Mirren as an actress and she fits and plays regal characters magnificently. A play mixing humour, pathos and satire sounded really appealing and the concept just sounded so interesting.

Found myself not disappointed at all by 'The Audience', then again to be honest there were no doubts in the first place. Found the play very interesting and entertaining with good balance of tone. And the production was first rate. It is always great to see a production of a play completely new, being somewhat refreshing when you want a change from seeing either productions of plays that are oft-performed and very famous or productions of plays that aren't as well known and revived. That is the joy of the National Theatre Live series, that balance of new, familiar and seldom performed often with great casts.

Mirren is the main reason to see 'The Audience', she is the full embodiment of Elizabeth and plays her with full authority and nuance. The other outstanding performance came from Richard McCabe, the scenes between him and Mirren really struck an emotional chord. Barely recognisable Paul Ritter's performance is also deeply felt and the fiery Haydn Gwynne is a very strong contrast, her and Mirren's chemistry has a lot of fire and steel.

It is a simple but also attractive production visually, the actors also cope with the transformations incredibly well and some were pretty rapid. The staging is intelligent and despite the story structure it is not hard to follow and entertained and moved. The young Elizabeth touch wasn't in any way distracting in my mind, and helped give Elizabeth some dimension.

As far as the script goes, that is one of the best things about 'The Audience' other than Mirren. Humour, pathos and satire can be heard throughout, beautifully balanced and each executed extremely well on their own. The humour is genuinely funny and can be witty and also ironic. The pathos is genuinely moving and will admit tearing up, especially in the scenes between Elizabeth and McMillan. The satire is sharp and mocks effectively, but never in a mean way, enough of it was pretty gentle.

Do agree though that Edward Fox was dull as Churchill when he didn't have the tendency to go overboard with the line delivery.

Altogether, apart from that this was a fine performance. 9/10

I was delighted to get tickets for this play which was filmed live and made available to theatre audiences. After the first half of the show, I was impressed but slightly disappointed in a performance that seemed somewhat over the top. I felt that the monarch and her prime ministers would never speak to one another in a way that seemed like a breach of protocol. However, I was impressed with the acting of Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II and Richard McCabe as Harold Wilson.

Edward Fox didn't resonate very well as Winston Churchill. I kept seeing the 35 year old who acted the part of a sniper in The Day of the Jackal. He also took to lecturing the young Queen which I have trouble imagining since he had so much respect for her. As it turned out, Elizabeth was more than a match for him and made it clear the audience would be on her terms. I also found the voices to be very loud, even for me with a serious hearing problem. But of course we were not hearing the voices as those in an audience would have.

The second half of the drama was much better. Perhaps because I had adjusted to being directly in front of the performers. I also enjoyed the return of Harold Wilson to the stage. He had some wonderful lines and they were delivered superbly. The man had mellowed in his attitude to the monarch and his honesty and large dose of humour won the Queen over since their first meeting years before. Their last encounter was tinged with surprise and sadness.

Paul Ritter's performance as John Major was an opportunity for the monarch to show her experience in dealing with a man who had lost all confidence in himself. Ritter showed his range by showing a much stronger persona when confronting the Queen about opening the Palace to the public on occasion and a real dagger to the heart, the decommissioning of the Royal Yacht Britannia. On this occasion, it was the Queen whose emotions were on display.

The meeting with Margaret Thatcher showed a real difference in personality between the two strong women. Many will think the Queen outmatched her but I think both came off very well. I think people who remember Thatcher have a good idea of how she would operate in such circumstances.

I was disappointed that the version I saw omitted Harold MacMillan, Sir Alec Douglas-Home and Tony Blair. I think each of these prime ministers would have made fascinating material. I was impressed with the filler that took place during the intermission and the interview with Helen Mirren after the performance.

While there can be problems for actors coping with television cameras on stage and performing for two audiences, the overall result was hugely satisfying. The difficulties were touched upon in an interview between the director and Helen Mirren at the end of this tremendous performance. Nonetheless, I would gladly watch it again.