The Madness of George III is Brighton open-air special

Sarah said: “We love Alan Bennett’s plays and enjoyed working on the Lady in the Van so much because of his brilliant writing. You get it all with Alan Bennett – he can be so touching and yet the next minute have you in hysterics. Also, we were excited by the challenge of producing this spectacular play, outdoors at Brighton Open Air Theatre especially in what promises to be a difficult year for everyone’s finances. So we are endeavoring to bring the audience a big play on a small budget at their local theatre, enabling them to see it for just £10 on our Wednesday preview and £15 and £12 on the other performances.

“As the Royals have been in the news a lot and King Charles had his coronation in May it is a good time to re-evaluate the play, the monarchy and just what it stands for. Alan Bennett’s play not only commemorates royalty but also questions it. He also has plenty to say about the Tory government of the day. For example in the play the politician Fox says: ‘Now Pitt has stitched himself into the flag and passed himself off as the spirit of the nation and the Tories as the collective virtue of England.’ We could so easily change the name of Pitt to Sunak or even Johnson to realise the same is true today. As Alan Bennett says: ‘Any account of politics whatever the period must throw up contemporary parallels.’

“Alan Bennett is one of the best writers we have. This play has historical context, political content, great dialogue and is also very funny. It is a spectacle of kingship, a comedy of manners and an exploration of a man in mental crisis. The King’s illness has been a topic of discussion for many years and recently bipolar disorder and dementia have been added to the list of possible diagnoses. Porphyria was the theory put forward by Richard Hunter and Ida Macalpine in their book George III and the Mad Business. There are further ideas about arsenic poisoning contributing to his symptoms as he was being treated with powders which contained it. This may have caused his more severe stomach pains.

“In the play, the King is ill and parliament is in crisis. His behaviour is becoming increasingly erratic with rumours circulating that he has even addressed an oak tree as The King of Prussia. Doctors are brought in with their bizarre and inhumane treatments as the Prince of Wales prepares to manoeuvre himself into power.

"Inevitably it will present the company with serious challenges: “It has a very large cast and is a complex piece to orchestrate, not to mention the challenge of putting it on outdoors in any weather. As you can imagine, the amount of costume and props will be a challenge to get and our designer is busy looking at these at the moment. The staging will be complicated and for this reason we have three directors, myself, Sian Webber and Nick Bartlett as it will be a little like mobilising an army! As Alan Bennett points out in the script, even The National Theatre ran out of budget when it came to state robes!”

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