It’s usually royal family drama in the spotlight, but yesterday the King was able to enjoy being a spectator as he watched student actors perform a play about family betrayal.
In recent years, the Windsors have been at the centre of some very public rows, but on Tuesday night the 75-year-old was allowed to watch another dramatic tale unfold.
Attending his first major public event since Rishi Sunak called a general election, Charles and Camilla visited a student performance of House Of Ife by Beru Tessema at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada).
The play follows a family in the wake of the sudden death of their eldest son. The tense story sees characters “forced to confront the traumas they have long tried to bury”.
“As the sun beats down on their North London flat, and the authoritarian head of the family arrives from Ethiopia for the funeral, tensions rise, cultures clash and past betrayals are unearthed,” the RADA website describes the production as.
David Harewood, Rada’s president who appeared in hit TV series Homeland, told The Telegraph that Charles “really seemed to enjoy” the production and said he spotted him giggle at one point.
The play marked the 120th anniversary of the world-famous drama school which has trained leading actors including Sir Anthony Hopkins, Imelda Staunton and Tom Hiddleston.
Rada was founded in 1904 by actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree in rooms above His Majesty’s Theatre in London’s West End, and today provides vocational training for actors, stage managers, designers and technical stagecraft specialists.
The King was named as Rada’s new patron earlier this month, succeeding Queen Elizabeth II who had been its figurehead for 70 years.
The King was told that Rada receives around 4,000 applications for a handful of acting places, and joked: “Do you put them through the most horrendous auditions?”
After watching the play, they toured Rada’s workshops where sets and backdrops are designed, built and painted by the students.
Mr Harewood said after the royal visit: “I think drama is dropping off the school syllabuses right now, which is really sad to see, so to have (a) reigning monarch who is a champion of the arts, in favour of the arts, supporting the arts, I think is really, really exciting.”
The Queen also shared some fond memories of the theatre on the visit, saying it reminded her of a “fantastic” secret night with her grandchildren.
Speaking to student Daniel Mays spent around 12 months playing Nathan Detroit in the musical Guys And Dolls, she recounted the outing.
The actor said afterwards: “She loved it and she took all her grandkids and they said they had the most incredible night.”
