The first actor to play Queen Elizabeth II on stage was Prunella Scales in Alan Bennett’s A Question of Attribution at the National Theatre in 1988 and she was brilliant. Then came Helen Mirren, first in Peter Morgan’s film, The Queen and then on stage in his play, The Audience, and she was excellent in both. Now it’s Kristin Scott Thomas’s turn.
Morgan’s play speculates what might have been said during the private conversations the Queen has had with her 12 Prime Ministers over 63 years. It may not be in the same league as Mike Bartlett’s King Charles III; but it is first-rate light entertainment.
I never believed I was watching the Queen in the way I had done when Scales and Mirren played her. Scott Thomas has authority; but she lacks the warmth they brought to the role. The play, however, still works because it has an intelligent, amusing and moving script plus a classy production by Stephen Daldry and his set designer, Bob Crawley. The scenes with Gordon Brown, Harold Wilson and David Cameron (played by Gordon Kennedy, Nicholas Woodeson and Mark Dexter respectively) are particularly enjoyable. Above all it works because of the respect and affection in which the Queen is held.