The Madness of George III

The Play

Tony Award-winning British playwright Alan Bennett (The History Boys) has garnered worldwide acclaim as "arguably the best playwright in England" (The New York Times). This sharply witty, surprisingly heartfelt story chronicles the palace intrigue surrounding King George III's struggle to maintain political power, aided by the love of his devoted queen. The monarch's endearing exultations and fiery rage evoke an 18th-century King Lear. Celebrated director Penny Metropulos, who spent 19 seasons with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, stages this marvelously intelligent masterpiece.

The medical practices of the time border on the barbaric, and the King, whose condition worsens, is subjected to evermore horrible treatments. Just when the Parliament is about to vote for the Regency—in other words, for the Prince of Wales to be king in all but name—George III recovers, and his monarchy is saved, at least for the next decade or so.

The Players