Kings Speech Play

04/02/2015

The King's Speech opens a new tour tomorrow starting at Chichester Festival Theatre starring Jason Donovan & Raymond Coulthard. Follow The Kings Speech for all the latest updates

01/05/2012

Have you been to see the show this week? What was the highlight for you?

27/04/2012

Today's Friday speech is Roosevelt's address after Pearl Harbor. What do you think?

Franklin Delano Roosevelt giving the Pearl Harbor Address - "a date that will live in infamy"

26/04/2012

A huge thanks you to Mark Logue for the after show Q&A last night. If you want to follow Mark's twitter feed you can find it here.

Sign up for Twitter to follow Mark Logue (). Filmmaker, grandson of Lionel Logue and author of the King's Speech

25/04/2012

Did you know that Carly Simon, songwriter of "You're So Vain" began stuttering severely when she was eight years old? She later overcame this through singing.

24/04/2012

We have a question for you. What nickname is Queen Elizabeth said to have within the Royal family?

23/04/2012

Do you think The King's Speech is closing too early? Click Like if you would like to see it play on. God Save The King.

20/04/2012

Last week Debbie Priddey asked: Is it tricky being on tour & having to adjust quickly to a new venue, particularly in view of the high tech set? This is what Jonathan and Charles had to say!

Jonathan:

I think touring is fabulous. There’s something exciting about it. Foreign tours are even better, because you start with this enormous kind of psychological leg-up that the audience gives you. A foreign audience. The optimism and the welcoming spirit is so powerful when you perform abroad, I mean standing ovations in parts of New York are almost de-rigeur, they happen almost as a matter of course. I do think any performance probably gets them standing up. But it’s always slightly hairy if you’ve got a slightly different acoustic, a bigger house, like up in Newcastle I think it’s got 2000 seats-

Charles:

I think it’s less, I think it’s 1300 or something like that.

Jonathan:

But still, it’s a big house compared with this, which is 780. The Theatre Royal Bath for example, which is my home town, is absolutely perfect, like this one, in terms of it’s embrace.

Charles:

Yes, it’s a lovely theatre. But yes, the hi-tech. With the set, it’s just extraordinary the work they do, taking down on a Saturday night, and putting it back up again in time for a Monday show.

Jonathan:

Sometimes there’s a different crew, so there can be a whole thing backstage where they’re not sure what comes next, so that was always a little bit hairy from time to time.

Have there been any Noises Off scenarios, where you go for a cup of tea and then it’s not there?

Charles:

No, but there have been noises off!

(Both laugh)

Jonathan:

Yes a couple of times!

20/04/2012

Message from The Producers:

“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 Producers

19/04/2012

Time to answer another interview question. Last Thursday, Antony Howlett asked:

What sort of things did you both do to prepare for the roles and get into character?

This is what Jonathan and Charles had to say!

Jonathan:

Well we do a lot of research, but do you mean before we go on stage, do we have a routine?

I think we’d like to hear about the routine, yes.

Charles:

I do have a routine. You know, you fall into a routine and I don’t like to interrupt that once I’ve found it. In any production I have a routine, and it becomes as simple as taking your shoes off. I don’t have to do it at a particular time, but I have to do things in a certain order and I like it to be the same each time.

Jonathan:

You always take the coin, the shilling back to the King. The shilling has to go back.

Charles:

Because I end up with it, don’t I?

Jonathan:

Yes, and it’s only pretend, the flip you see, I don’t really flip the coin. I just give it back to him beforehand because Charles said he was a rotten catcher.

Really?

Charles:

Yes, I’m hopeless.

Jonathan:

And he’d be dropping it everywhere and clogging up the routine, so this works! I always go and arrange my plane tray in the five minutes before the performance, I’ve got to get everything in order. Charlie’s whisky glass goes into the cornice, so there’s nothing to fuss that up. And I get rid of all his cups, get that out of the way. Any tiny bits of tissue hanging around need to be removed so they can’t flutter down onto the stage. The knife has to go into a certain place and the scalpel and the paint pot has to be in a certain place and the brush has to be in a certain place.

Charles:

And when I sit down at the tray it’s always beautifully arranged.

(Laughs)

Jonathan:
And then I have to look my tea things, make sure the cup is facing the right way, make sure the spoon is in the right place, make sure that the teapot’s turned slightly round, make sure that the k**b for the heating thing is turned down so that I can flip it up. It sounds ridiculous but Lionel has a lot of stuff in his office and it’s all precise so it’s very important to do that. And then there’s the spiritual thing, which is very private because I base it on one specific person.

19/04/2012

"Timing isn't my strong suit". What's your favourite line from the play?

18/04/2012

Have a listen to this fantastic Whatsonstage.com podcast from Monday's cast Q&A!

http://www.whatsonstage.com/radio/theatre/london/E8831334664148/WOS+Radio:+Edwards,+Hyde,+Ackland+&+co+get+Kings+speaking+at+Q&A.html

Last night (16 April 2012) a hundred Whatsonstage.com theatregoers were on hand at Wyndhams Theatre for Adrian Nobles critically acclaimed premiere stage production of David Seidler’s The King's Speech - and our exclusive post-show Q&A with the cast.