King Charles III NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (382)
See it if you love the royals!
Don't see it if you don't appreciate Shakespeare.
See it if you are a royalist or just like great dialogue.
Don't see it if if you are adverse to ghosts.
See it if You enjoy verse plays. You're familiar w/Shakespeare's history plays. You're familiar w/the royal family. You like political dramas.
Don't see it if You don't enjoy verse.You don't like Shakespeare's history plays.You don't care about the royal family.You don't like political drama.
See it if you follow the British monarchy or enjoy Shakespeare. It's a fascinating look into what could be. Thought provoking about the royal family.
Don't see it if you pay no attention to world events or if you aren't into Shakespeare. It would be over your head.
See it if You want a striking, bold, poignant drama with outstanding writing. If you enjoy Shakespearean -style structure and verse.
Don't see it if You want a light, satyrical comedy about the royal family; If you hate Shakespeare's plays and don't want to something modeled after one.
See it if you want to see a fascinating historical drama examining the future. See this if you want to see an original play with fantastic acting.
Don't see it if you don't appreciate Shakespearian verse, long British dramas, or the Royal Family.
See it if you want a well-written drama, you wish Shakespeare would write a new play, and/or you are a Royal Watcher.
Don't see it if you prefer theater with lighter themes.
See it if you like a brilliant performance by an extraordinary actor in a remarkable play. Great writing. Great production.
Don't see it if you're expecting a re-make of "The Queen".
Critic Reviews (76)
"Watching 'King Charles III' is like looking at the topographical landscape of a familiar world, one which we faintly recognize despite not having yet seen. It is as fresh, as thrilling, and as awesome as an undiscovered country."
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"Under the smooth direction of Rupert Goold, 'King Charles III' is an entertaining, provocative, highly stylized thriller. Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing more playwrights experiment with age-old devices and apply "what if?" scenarios to contemporary politics. Tim Pigott-Smith is fully animated as Charles, depicting his tragic journey from pondering figurehead to dangerous autocrat. It's the kind of performance you'd call Shakespearean in scope."
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"With spots of humor mixed in, Bartlett’s 'King Charles III' raises that age old question – why and how does the British royal family still exist? And if we get no easy answers, Rupert Goold’s sterling company treats us to the most entertaining story of palace intrigue this side of the Renaissance."
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"It's a bold experiment with form and content that pays off in delightful and unexpected ways…Pigott-Smith leads the cast with the kind of overwrought intensity we've come to expect from tragic Shakespearean kings…Rupert Goold directs the production with simultaneous efficiency and grandeur…Granted, this extrapolated form doesn't always translate to Bartlett's chosen subject."
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"You might call Mike Bartlett's abundantly clever and thoroughly engaging 'King Charles III' the history play Shakespeare might have written if he were still cranking them out late in the 21st Century…The play may be all talk, but within that talk is plenty of action, and director Rupert Goold's brisk and suspenseful production is an engaging adventure...By taking a peek into the future, 'King Charles III' is history-making fun."
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"A work of considerable wit and high style, 'King Charles III' is best enjoyed for the audacity of its conception, the formal brilliance of its verse dialogue, and a gallery of characters brought to life by an unusually gifted cast. Presiding over it all is Tim Pigott-Smith, whose Charles is a confounding, yet utterly convincing, mixture of self-doubt and arrogance…In its later stretches, the play occasionally seems tendentious, even a tad too certain of its importance."
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"This combination of a sweeping larger view and a probing intimacy lets Bartlett craft a surprisingly deep and thoroughly involving play that both lives up to its dramatic forebears and feels freshly minted and necessary…Bartlett does occasionally overextend himself, but overall it's disciplined, blistering writing that earns the pride of place it's set for itself. All this is melded with an excellent cast, many of whom look like the spitting images of their real-world counterparts."
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"It’s an absorbing, potent drama for anyone — American or British — who appreciates original playwriting, superb acting and exciting staging… Director Rupert Goold keeps the high drama of the climactic betrayals that ultimately surface from being predictable and overly melodramatic…'King Charles III' is a long play, but you won't be checking your watch. Long Live this King!"
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