National Theatre Live: The Madness of George III

A drab and witless approach, and some poor acting/casting overshadowed what could have otherwise been a smoothly produced revival. In regard to the writing, there was an oddly anticlimactic conclusion. This was not necessarily a flaw, however, as it fits with the themes. The script is a relative example of period naturalism, with some classic British humor mixed in to keep the audience's attention. The producers could have either kept this specific style intact, or they could have adapted a more expressionistic piece out of the original script. Somewhere along the way they stopped in the middle, and it lacked sense and reason. The over-the-top acting and eccentricities of certain performers, as well as the contextually nonsensical gender swapping, distracted from the grey set and grounded performances from the rest of the cast. None of these things were particularly bad on their own accord, hence why my rating is more centered. However, every member of the cast and crew have to be on the same page, or none of them are. This ensemble was not a concise unit, and the show suffered as a result.