The King’s Face – Lion & Unicorn Theatre, London

Director & writer: Steven Young

Reviewer: Elizabeth Vile

The Public Reviews Rating:

Based loosely on a true story, The King’s Face written and directed by Steven Young, is a detailed and lovingly crafted 90 minute historical drama about an incident in the life of Prince Harry of Monmouth. Prince Harry is on his death bed after being wounded by an arrow that has lodged itself into the base of his skull and his last chance of survival comes in the shape of Doctor John Bradmore.

This two hander’s success relies wholly on the performances of the two actors and they do not disappoint. When Dr Bradmore arrives the young prince (played by David Trosko) is mentally and physically fragile as he struggles to come to terms with his own mortality. Trosko creates this complicated character brilliantly and demonstrates the prince’s mood swings, beliefs and fears in a subtle but effective way which kept the audience engrossed throughout the very wordy piece. His portrayal of the pain of his injury was very effective while his representation of vulnerability and innocence was touching.

As the piece progressed and the relationship between the two characters grew the audience were able to learn more about the two men, and this relationship was the key to the whole piece. Graham Bowe as Dr Bradmore was a strong but fatherly character who always remembered that he was talking to his future king but could not hide his own beliefs and feelings. The relationship between the two men was particularly touching. The Prince’s heartfelt plea to Bradworth at the end of the play to remove the arrow because he is the only man he trusts was made even more poignant because that was the exact reason the doctor did not want to do it; he has become so emotionally attached to the boy and no longer saw him as just a patient.

Overall this piece was lovingly and thoughtfully written and directed by Steven Young, there were just a few elements that did not quite work for me. I never really felt that the Prince’s death was imminent; although he looked pale and the prosthetics were very effective (the lady next to me visibly cringed during the ‘probing’ scenes) I felt that the piece could have been even more powerful if the degeneration of the prince could have been explored further. I also loved the flashes of immaturity shown by Trotsko but just wished these could have been developed especially as Bradworth was unintentionally becoming the Prince’s surrogate father. I feel this piece has huge potential to make the audience cry but this wasn’t achieved during the performance I saw.

This play would be suitable for anyone interested in historical drama and relationships between two extremes of society. I really enjoyed the piece, it was funny, sad, though provoking and despite an unexpected interval, held its pace throughout. I would happily watch this piece again.