the king's speech cast list

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The King's Speech

The story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer. The story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer. The story of King George VI, his unexpected ascension to the throne of the British Empire in 1936, and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch overcome his stammer.

• David Seidler
• Colin Firth
• Geoffrey Rush
• Helena Bonham Carter
• 834 User reviews
• 487 Critic reviews
• 88 Metascore
• 109 wins & 206 nominations total

Top cast 67

• King George VI

• Lionel Logue

• Queen Elizabeth

• Archbishop Cosmo Lang

• Private Secretary

• BBC Radio Announcer

• Robert Wood

• BBC Technician

• Dr. Blandine Bentham

• Laurie Logue

• Myrtle Logue

• Valentine Logue
• Anthony Logue

• Princess Elizabeth

• Princess Margaret

• Theatre Director
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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• Trivia Nine weeks before filming began, Lionel Logue's grandson, Mark Logue , discovered a large box in his attic that contained his grandfather's personal papers. The box held Lionel Logue's diary, his appointment book, notes from his speech therapy sessions with King George VI , and over 100 personal letters to Logue from the King. It also contained what is believed to be the actual copy of the speech used by George VI in his 1939 radio broadcast announcing the declaration of war with Germany. Mark Logue turned his grandfather's papers, letters, and diary over to director Tom Hooper and screenwriter David Seidler , who used them to flesh out the relationship between Logue and the King. Geoffrey Rush and Colin Firth also read through the material for insight into their characters. The exchange in this movie between Logue and King George VI following his radio speech ("You still stammered on the 'W'." / "Well, I had to throw in a few so they knew it was me.") was taken directly from Logue's diary. Firth insisted that it should be included in the movie.
• Goofs In the final speech, King George VI has one blue eye and one brown eye. Colin Firth had lost a contact lens.

King George VI : All that... work... down the drain. My own... b... brother, I couldn't say a single w-word to him in reply.

Lionel Logue : Why do you stammer so much more with David than you ever do with me?

King George VI : 'Cos you're b... bloody well paid to listen.

Lionel Logue : Bertie, I'm not a geisha girl.

King George VI : Stop trying to be so bloody clever.

Lionel Logue : What is it about David that stops you speaking?

King George VI : What is it about you that bloody well makes you want to go on about it the whole bloody time?

Lionel Logue : Vulgar, but fluent; you don't stammer when you swear.

King George VI : Oh, bugger off!

Lionel Logue : Is that the best you can do?

King George VI : [like an elocution lesson] Well... bloody bugger to you, you beastly bastard.

Lionel Logue : Oh, a public school prig could do better than that.

King George VI : Shit. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!

Lionel Logue : Yes!

King George VI : Shit!

Lionel Logue : Defecation flows trippingly from the tongue!

King George VI : Because I'm angry!

Lionel Logue : Do you know the f-word?

King George VI : F... f... fornication?

Lionel Logue : Oh, Bertie.

King George VI : Fuck. Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck and fuck! Fuck, fuck and bugger! Bugger, bugger, buggerty buggerty buggerty, fuck, fuck, arse!

Lionel Logue : Yes...

King George VI : Balls, balls...

Lionel Logue : ...you see, not a hesitation!

King George VI : ...fuckity, shit, shit, fuck and willy. Willy, shit and fuck and... tits.

• Crazy credits In the end credit roll, Philip Clements is listed twice as Assistant Sound Editor.
• Connections Featured in Breakfast: Episode dated 22 October 2010 (2010)
• Soundtracks Le nozze di Figaro Overture Written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart [During the first therapy session when King's voice is being recorded]

User reviews 834

• dbogosian-1
• Dec 26, 2010
• Just what time frame are we talking about here?
• What causes Bertie's stammer?
• Why couldn't King Edward marry Wallis Simpson?
• December 25, 2010 (United States)
• United States
• United Kingdom
• Official Site
• El Discurso del Rey
• Elland Road Football Stadium, Elland Road, Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, UK (as Wembley Stadium at start of film)
• The Weinstein Company
• UK Film Council
• Momentum Pictures
• See more company credits at IMDbPro
• $15,000,000 (estimated)
• $138,797,449
• Nov 28, 2010
• $472,088,310

Technical specs

• Runtime 1 hour 58 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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The King's Speech - Full Cast & Crew

• 1 hr 58 mins
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Tom Hooper's Oscar-winning period drama, based on real events, starring Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush and Helena Bonham Carter. George VI, the future King of England, struggles to conquer a crippling stutter that is brought on by a fear of public speaking. Things begin to improve when his wife takes him to see unorthodox Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue. As their long association unfolds, the men find a common bond that leads to friendship.

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The King's Speech - Cast

Colin Firth

Geoffrey Rush

Helena Bonham Carter

Michael Gambon

Timothy Spall

Jennifer Ehle

Derek Jacobi

Anthony Andrews

The King's Speech (2010)

Directed by tom hooper.

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Description by Wikipedia

The King's Speech is a 2010 historical drama film directed by Tom Hooper and written by David Seidler. Colin Firth plays the future King George VI who, to cope with a stammer, sees Lionel Logue, an Australian speech and language therapist played by Geoffrey Rush. The men become friends as they work together, and after his brother abdicates the throne, the new king relies on Logue to help him make his first wartime radio broadcast upon Britain's declaration of war on Germany in 1939.

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• Kinorium 8.0 8923
• IMDb 8.0 713 233
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Colin Firth

Geoffrey Rush

Helena Bonham Carter

Timothy Spall

Michael Gambon

Claire Bloom

Derek Jacobi

Jennifer Ehle

Anthony Andrews

Patrick Ryecart

Roger Parrott

Robert Portal

Richard Dixon

Paul Trussell

Adrian Scarborough

Andrew Havill

Charles Armstrong

Roger Hammond

Calum Gittins

Dominic Applewhite

Ben Wimsett

Freya wilson.

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David Bamber

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Mary robinson.

George Rudd

Tony Sweeney

Sven Vannieuwenhuyse

Emilia Ufir

Gareth James

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Philip Widdicombe

David seidler.

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Tom Hooper

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Paramount Pictures Columbia Pictures The Weinstein Company

R

118 minutes

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The King's Speech

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What to Know

Colin Firth gives a masterful performance in The King's Speech , a predictable but stylishly produced and rousing period drama.

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Colin Firth

King George VI

Geoffrey Rush

Lionel Logue

Helena Bonham Carter

Queen Elizabeth

King Edward VIII

Timothy Spall

Winston Churchill

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The King's Speech Cast

Meet the cast, bertie (king george vi) (colin firth), lionel logue (geoffrey rush), elizabeth (helena bonham carter), david (king edward viii) (guy pearce), king george v (michael gambon), winston churchill (timothy spall), elizabeth and margaret (freya wilson, ramona marquez), tired of ads, cite this source, logging out…, logging out....

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W hy's T his F unny?

List of The King's Speech Characters

List of The King's Speech characters, including pictures when available. These characters from The King's Speech are ordered by their significance to the film, so main characters are featured at the top while minor characters and cameos are further down on the list. The King's Speech had a lot of memorable characters, which is part of the reason why the movie is so beloved by people around the world. The names of the actors and actresses who played each character are included next to the character's names, so use this list to discover who played your favorite characters.

Examples of items on this list include Anthony Logue and Royal Nanny.

If you want to know, "Who are the characters from The King's Speech?" or "What are the names of The King's Speech characters?" then this list is the perfect resource for you.

Winston Churchill

Wallis Simpson

King George VI

Archbishop cosmo lang, duke henry of gloucester.

The King's Speech (2010)

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The King's Speech

After the death of his father King George V (Michael Gambon) and the scandalous abdication of Prince Edward VII's (Guy Pearce), Bertie (Colin Firth) who has suffered from a debilitating speech impediment all his life, is suddenly crowned King George VI of England. With his country on the brink of war and in desperate need of a leader, his wife, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter), the future Queen Mother, arranges for her husband to see an eccentric speech therapist, Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush). After a rough start, the two delve into an unorthodox course of treatment and eventually form an unbreakable bond. With the support of Logue, his family, his government and Winston Churchill (Timothy Spall), the King will overcome his stammer and deliver a radio-address that inspires his people and unites them in battle. Based on the true story of King George VI, The King's Speech follows the Royal Monarch's quest to find his voice. The multi-award-winning cast includes Helena Bonham Carter (Alice In Wonderland) as Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, Guy Pearce (The Hurt Locker), Derek Jacobi (The Golden Compass), Timothy Spall (The Damned United) and Michael Gambon (Harry Potter).

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The king's speech.

Directed by Tom Hooper

Find your voice.

The King's Speech tells the story of the man who became King George VI, the father of Queen Elizabeth II. After his brother abdicates, George ('Bertie') reluctantly assumes the throne. Plagued by a dreaded stutter and considered unfit to be king, Bertie engages the help of an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue. Through a set of unexpected techniques, and as a result of an unlikely friendship, Bertie is able to find his voice and boldly lead the country into war.

Colin Firth Geoffrey Rush Helena Bonham Carter Guy Pearce Timothy Spall Michael Gambon Jennifer Ehle Derek Jacobi Freya Wilson Ramona Marquez Richard Dixon Robert Portal Eve Best Paul Trussell Adrian Scarborough Andrew Havill Charles Armstrong Roger Hammond Calum Gittins Dominic Applewhite Ben Wimsett David Bamber Jake Hathaway Patrick Ryecart Teresa Gallagher Simon Chandler Claire Bloom Orlando Wells Tim Downie Show All… Dick Ward John Albasiny Danny Emes Anthony Andrews John Warnaby Roger Parrott Dean Ambridge Julianne Buescher James Currie Graham Curry Tony Earnshaw Sean Talo

Director Director

Producers producers.

Iain Canning Simon Egan Emile Sherman Gareth Unwin Erica Bensly

Writer Writer

David Seidler

Casting Casting

Editor editor.

Tariq Anwar

Cinematography Cinematography

Danny Cohen

Assistant Directors Asst. Directors

Martin Harrison Chris Stoaling

Executive Producers Exec. Producers

Paul Brett Tim Smith Harvey Weinstein Geoffrey Rush Bob Weinstein Deepak Sikka Mark Foligno

Lighting Lighting

Paul McGeachan

Camera Operators Camera Operators

Danny Cohen Zac Nicholson

Additional Photography Add. Photography

Martin Kenzie

Production Design Production Design

Eve Stewart

Art Direction Art Direction

Leon McCarthy David Hindle

Set Decoration Set Decoration

Special effects special effects.

James Davis III

Visual Effects Visual Effects

Thomas M. Horton Melinka Thompson-Godoy Danny S. Kim Derek Bird

Choreography Choreography

Scarlett Mackmin

Composer Composer

Alexandre Desplat

Sound Sound

Martin Jensen Catherine Hodgson Peter Burgis Paul Hamblin John Midgley Lee Walpole Gerard McCann Andie Derrick

Costume Design Costume Design

Jenny Beavan

Makeup Makeup

Christine Whitney Paul Gooch

Hairstyling Hairstyling

Alex Rouse Nana Fischer Frances Hannon Carmel Jackson

The Weinstein Company See-Saw Films Bedlam Productions

Releases by Date

06 sep 2010, 10 sep 2010, 21 oct 2010, 05 dec 2010, 12 dec 2010, 16 dec 2010, 29 jan 2011, 05 feb 2011, 16 feb 2011, 28 feb 2011, 25 apr 2011.

• Theatrical limited

26 Nov 2010

22 dec 2010, 23 dec 2010, 25 dec 2010, 26 dec 2010, 07 jan 2011, 21 jan 2011, 27 jan 2011, 28 jan 2011, 02 feb 2011, 03 feb 2011, 04 feb 2011, 10 feb 2011, 11 feb 2011, 17 feb 2011, 18 feb 2011, 23 feb 2011, 24 feb 2011, 25 feb 2011, 26 feb 2011, 03 mar 2011, 04 mar 2011, 10 mar 2011, 17 mar 2011, 01 apr 2011, 11 may 2011, 24 feb 2012, 28 apr 2013, 02 sep 2011, 15 sep 2011, releases by country.

• Theatrical M
• Premiere Bahamas International Film Festival
• Theatrical EA

Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

Bosnia and herzegovina.

• Theatrical 12
• Premiere Toronto International Film Festival
• Premiere Beijing International Film Festival
• Theatrical A
• Theatrical S
• Theatrical U
• Premiere Berlin International Film Festival
• Theatrical 0
• Theatrical IIB
• Theatrical 12A
• Theatrical G
• Theatrical N-13

Netherlands

• Premiere International Film Festival Rotterdam
• Theatrical AL
• Physical AL DVD, Blu ray
• Theatrical AL RTL 4

New Zealand

Philippines.

• Theatrical M/12
• Theatrical 16+
• Premiere Belgrade Film Festival

South Korea

• Premiere Barcelona
• Theatrical APTA
• Premiere Göteborg International Film Festival
• Theatrical Btl

Switzerland

• Premiere BFI London Film Festival
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• Theatrical R
• Theatrical Re-release

United Arab Emirates

• Premiere Dubai International Film Festival

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Popular reviews

Review by Evan ★★★ 22

Best Picture...? Seriously...?

Review by sophie ★★★½ 15

when i told my dad this beat the social network for best picture he said that "this was the better film". in other unrelated news, i am now seeking to be legally emancipated from my father.

Review by Will Sloan ★

Without an ounce of hyperbole, I am telling you that Tom Hooper is one of the very worst directors to ever attain "professional" status. This is a nightmarish visual experience. The wanton violations of the 180-degree rule. The bizarre compositions in which characters are pointlessly consigned the extreme right or left of the frame with acres of dead space next to them. The way his camera will arbitrarily shift into Terry Gilliam-vision. His inability to consider what the impact of a space should be, and how to correctly communicate that idea visually. People rightly give Kevin Smith a hard time for his visual illiteracy, but Tom Hooper is so much worse.

What's funny about royalist kitsch like this and The…

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Hitler bad, Colin Firth good.

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well ill tell u what it's no The Social Network (2010) dir. David Fincher

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colin firth yelling random curse words is considered a form of therapy

Review by issy 🥝 ★★★★ 8

I'm always surprised when I re-realise that Colin Firth was never a part of the Harry Potter films, he should've been in them, I'd take anything really. He could be the guy who wears the green CGI outfit in place of that huge spider Aragog in the forbidden forest and it'd be good enough for me just give me Colin Firth's name in the credits of at least one (1) Harry Potter film or give me death

Review by 👻 hannah 👻 ★★★★★ 1

controversial opinion time: this masterpiece deserved every academy award it won

Review by Edgar Cochran ✝️ ★★★★ 12

Please spell me out the "clichéd" and "formulaic" elements in The King's Speech, because even if it is a doubtful Academy Awards conqueror, Tom Hooper built a proper historical account about the struggle of a man to become a symbol of national resistance in imminent war times that were about to shape the world. It has been accused of being "predictable" as well. Maybe that's because the story was based on true events? The art of cinema retelling true stories resides in the ability to properly, yet respectfully carry on the task of dramatization, one of the main successes of The King's Speech .

I applaud the performances and the execution. Dialogue handling was impeccable, and the cinematography was worthy of…

Review by 🇵🇱 Steve G 🐝 ★★★★ 16

The Box Office Bashing Season: 2003 to 2014

As I've wittered on about at length numerous times before, I'm no fan of the Oscars.

However, I do think sometimes they are used as a rather lazy brickbat to beat certain films with. It seems that you can't make certain films with certain directors and certain casts backed by certain studios or producers without them immediately being labelled as 'Oscar bait'. It's a cynical and sad world we live in as film fans that there are films out there that have been made with the pure objective of winning Oscars, obviously.

But then certain films quite possibly end up as collateral damage. The King's Speech, for instance, was never going to…

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"You are going to go through life thinking movie goers don't like you cause your're oscar bait, and I want you to know from the bottom of my heart, that wont be true. It'll be because you beat the social network for best picture."

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The King's Speech

Director: Tom Hooper

Writer: David Seidler

Cast: Colin Firth, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, Timothy Spall, Derek Jacobi, Jennifer Ehle, Michael Gambon

The King's Speech  brings us into the beating heart of the British Royal Family. Oscar® Nominated Colin Firth plays Albert, the Duke of York, or “Bertie.” A deeply private man, Bertie is afflicted with a debilitating stutter that leaves him unable to speak publicly.

Following a public scandal, Bertie must take his brother David’s (Pearce) place on the throne. Stutter or not, Bertie will be King. To help ready her husband, Elizabeth (Helena Bonham Carter) finds an unorthodox speech therapist named Lionel Logue (Rush). The two men form an unlikely friendship that will not only cure Bertie’s stutter, but also help him find the voice of a king and the strength to lead his country to war with the Nazis.  

The King's Speech

Nov 26 , 2010

A prince must become King, but he has a troubling stammer. His wife then hires a speech therapist and actor to help turn things around. 

The film won four Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay.

#2911 movie

The King's Speech Cast

Helena Bonham Carter, 58

Queen Elizabeth

Colin Firth, 64

Michael Gambon (1940-2023)

Timothy Spall, 67

Winston Churchill

Geoffrey Rush, 73

Lionel Logue

Guy Pearce, 56

Edward VIII

Jennifer Ehle, 54

Myrtle Logue

Derek Jacobi, 85

Cosmo Gordon Lang

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It Turns Out Hugh Grant Turned Down This Huge Oscar-Winning Role

Hugh Grant has appeared in countless highly-acclaimed movies, so it’s not like the multi-award-winning actor needs to prove himself at this stage.

But as it turns out, he narrowly missed out on a role that could potentially have landed him his first Oscar .

Speaking to The Telegraph in 2010, The King’s Speech writer David Seidler reported that Hugh was one of the top picks to play King George VI in the hit historical drama.

The writer said director Tom Hooper had been eyeing Hugh for the role, while David himself was keen to cast Paul Bettany .

Colin Firth was, in fact, third in line for the part, which was actually quite appropriate, given that King George VI was not the throne’s natural successor, either

He ended up winning the Oscar for Best Actor thanks to his portrayal of the monarch, while the film itself was also in the running for Best Picture.

Director Tom Hooper later told the Telegraph: “It was a blessing, really, because once I started talking to Colin Firth and getting to know him, the rightness of him playing the part was so profound.”

Speaking to Vanity Fair this year, Hugh admitted to having fallen out of love with acting in the late 2000s, around the time The King’s Speech was being filmed.

Following what the magazine called Hugh’s box ofice “bomb” Did You Hear About The Morgans?, the Notting Hill star said he was left feeling “completely marooned”.

But after appearing in the 2012 Wachowski flick Cloud Atlas, he was reminded of his passion for his craft.

“I thought, ’Oh yeah, I used to really enjoy doing characters—in fact, I almost used to enjoy acting,” he recalled .

“I started out doing silly voices, odd people, making people laugh at university, and then doing this comedy show in London. It was doing characters ,” he said of his very early career.

“Then through sheer chance, maybe because of the way I looked, I got drawn into the leading romantic hero. It went fine, but it’s not what I think I’m best at—partly because it’s less fun.”

He has since appeared in films as diverse as Dungeons And Dragons , Heretic , The Gentlemen , Paddington 2 and Wonka .

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The King’s Speech at the Watermill Theatre – review

Emma Butler’s revival runs until 2 November

Judi Herman

25 September 2024

The King’s Speech playwright David Seidler, who also penned the screenplay for its hugely successful 2010 film adaptation, sadly died as this revival   was in the production phase at the Watermill. Its triumphant return to the stage is a fitting tribute to him.

Thanks to a superb cast of just seven – three of whom play more than one meaty role – and sensitive, vigorous direction from Emma Butler, the production does full justice to Seidler’s intriguing and convincing retelling of the British Royal Family’s fortunes in the mid-20th century, especially in the lead up to World War Two.

His play’s title has a clever double meaning. Younger son of George V, the future George VI, known as Bertie to distinguish him from his father, has a speech impediment – a stammer that makes the prospect of public speaking a terrifying one. On a stage with a microphone as its focal point, it’s hardly surprising that his terror is palpable to the audience.

Peter Sandys-Clarke plays Bertie with extraordinary empathy and insight, desperation and tension evident in every fibre of his otherwise elegant and aristocratic body. It’s no wonder he desperately seizes on the hope offered by Aussie speech therapist Lionel Logue.

As the play opens in the years leading up to World War Two, it is no secret that he is likely to become King, given his older brother Edward’s scandalous relationship, then marriage to twice-divorced American Wallis Simpson, and indeed the couple would soon be seen in public cosying up to Hitler on a tour of Nazi Germany six months before their marriage.

Stephen Rahman-Hughes makes a stoical but chilly David, as Edward was known in the family. In a remarkable doubling, Rosa Hesmondhalgh plays both Wallis Simpson and Myrtle, the loving, supportive wife of successful therapist Logue, trying to overcome her yearning to return home to Australia.

Bertie’s salvation too is his extraordinarily encouraging wife Elizabeth. Amira Challenger brings warmth and patience to the role of the woman perhaps today remembered best as the much-loved late Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother.

In many ways though, the central couple here are Logue, played with persuasive vigour by Arthur Hughes, and Sandys Clarke’s Bertie, trying to believe in and follow Logue’s therapy. Logue’s secret weakness is his failure to pass auditions to become an actor on the newly burgeoning medium of radio, a clever gloss on his character.

The cast is completed by a trio of elder statesmen, who appear above, apparently at a gentlemen’s club. Winston Churchill (Jim Kitson, also playing George V) and Stanley Baldwin (Rahman-Hughes again) clearly relish the opportunity to comment, often with comical derision, on what they see as the farce developing below. The third member of this triumvirate is Christopher Naylor’s wonderfully scornful Cosmo Lang, Archbishop of Canterbury, who offers the Royals what he considers to be God-given advice, with less than loving kindness.

All this is played out on a set of mysterious, interlocking panels of wood. Designer Bretta Gerecke describes her work as a “metaphoric journey through the pathways of Bertie’s mind”. Her “twists and turns” certainly work for me.

Apparently, the Queen Mother asked that the stage version wait to debut until after her death. I do wonder though, whether she might not have relished it after all, especially if she saw the delight and rapturous applause with which the audience received the production.

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THE KING’S SPEECH ★★★★ Watermill Theatre

The king’s speech at the watermill theatre.

“Peter Sandys-Clarke gives an excellent performance as the ‘dear, dear man’ held in a vocal prison by his childhood trauma.”

Playwright David Seidler (1937–2024) developed a stammer at the age of three as his family travelled from the UK to the US in the early years of World War II. One of three ships in their convoy was destroyed by German U-Boats. Many kinds of speech therapy failed him until at the age of 16, and in a frustrated rage he shouted out the F-word.

Out of this traumatic experience came a playwright, and also his most memorable work, the screenplay for the film The King’s Speech, which is based on a true story. But Seidler’s wife said ‘why don’t you write it as a play?’, realising that the spatial limitations of theatre would enable it to focus on the key relationship at the heart of the piece. The 2010 film, starring Colin Firth and Geoffrey Rush, was produced to great acclaim and won four Academy Awards. In 2012 the play opened in Guildford before touring the world in nine different languages.

The delightfully intimate Watermill Theatre is The Stage’s Theatre of the Year and has a reputation for unique shows which last long in the memory. This revival brilliantly embodies that tradition.

Directed by former Almeida resident director Emma Butler with insightful lighting by Ryan Day, and striking costume and set design by Bretta Gerecke, the play sheds new light on a much-loved and deeply poignant story.

The first act moves rapidly with a lot of plot to cover and many brief scenes, with a greater and more compelling focus after the interval.

If you have seen the film, you will recall that the relationship between the future King George VI (Peter Sandys-Clarke) and his wayward speech therapist Lionel Logue (Arthur Hughes) is the nub of the story. ‘Bertie’ the monarch-to-be is inventively dressed as ‘a thing of threads and patches’ – in a half-made suit that symbolises his status as a future king and as a stutterer ‘trapped in a broken body over which he has no control’. This symbolism is echoed in the set which consists largely of a disordered arc of swirling timber.

Peter Sandys-Clarke gives an excellent performance as the ‘dear, dear man’ held in a vocal prison by his childhood trauma. We see him fail to speak coherently at Wembley Stadium and the abuse to which he is subjected by his family. Against a backdrop of great affairs of state, including the death of a king and the abdication of another, an intimate and touching story of deepening friendship is played out between a plain-speaking Aussie and a very believably austere royal. Arthur Hughes shines as the genial and irreverent therapist, his performance somehow made all the more poignant by his own slight physical disability.

Aamira Challenger gives an elegantly restrained performance as the Princess Elizabeth and Jim Kitson makes the most of some excellent lines as a bluff and bustling Winston Churchill and King George V.

Rosa Hesmondhalgh (Myrtle Logue/Wallis Simpson) is endearing as an Australian shopgirl who gets invited to sit with the royals at a coronation. Christopher Naylor made the most of his role as the scheming Archbishop, Cosmo Lang and cricket sweater wearing Stephen Rahman-Hughes gives a new take on David, the Duke of Windsor who so memorably stood down from the throne as he could not uphold it without ‘the help and support of the woman I love’.

This wonderful revival is a delight.

Reviewed on 24th September 2024

By david woodward, photography by alex brenner.

Previously reviewed at this venue:

Barnum | ★★★★ | july 2024, much ado about nothing | ★★★★ | april 2024, the lord of the rings | ★★★★★ | august 2023, mansfield park | ★★★★ | june 2023, rapunzel | ★★★★ | november 2022, whistle down the wind | ★★★★ | july 2022, the king’s speech, click here to see our recommended shows page.