King Charles III

Following a sold-out run at the Almeida Theatre, Mike Bartlett’s critically acclaimed new future history play King Charles III transfers to Wyndham’s Theatre for a strictly limited season.

The Queen is dead: after a lifetime of waiting, the prince ascends the throne.  A future of power. But how to rule? Written mostly in blank verse, with wry nods to Shakespeare's history plays, King Charles III is politically thoughtful and astute as it takes dead-eyed aim at the instution of our monarchy and its would-be King.

Mike Bartlett's hypothetical but canny extrapolation of Charles' morality and actions pulls the issue of whether we would ever want an unelected monarch overruling our democratically elected government sharply into focus.

Directed by the Almeida's artistic director Rupert Goold, this 'bracingly provocative and outrageously entertaining new play' (The Independent) explores the people underneath the crowns, the unwritten rules of our democracy, and the conscience of Britain's most famous family.