Musing Mends The Soul: The King's Speech

This production of David Seidler's The King’s Speech - the play that became an Oscar-winning phenomenon on screen - has been playing in the West End to universal acclaim, gaining four or five star ratings in every review. However, this shows the fickle and tenuous nature of the theatre world when today, the producers released this;

"Two years ago, originating producer Michael Alden was ready to put the play on and the film came along and blocked its path. At the start of this year, we believed that enough time had passed between the film and our opening. This clearly was not the case.

"We are extremely proud of what we have accomplished. It is a production of genuine quality that has been critically and publicly acclaimed across the board."

The production will close two months early on the 12th of May. I am doubly disappointed as it is clearly a work of great quality with a truly premium cast and also because I had a ticket to see it in its final weeks.

So here is a little memorial to mark its sad passing.

Directed by former RSC artistic director Adrian Noble. The King’s Speech tells of how the reluctant King George VI conquered his debilitating stammer with the help of maverick Australian speech therapist Lionel Logue.

Charles Edwards plays George VI and Jonathan Hyde is Lionel Logue.