Helen Mirren stars once more as Queen Elizabeth II in the world premiere of Peter Morgan’s The Audience at the Gielgud Theatre, directed by Stephen Daldry.
As queen for sixty years, Elizabeth II has met each of her twelve Prime Ministers in a weekly audience at Buckingham Palace - a meeting like no other in British public life – it is private. Both parties have an unspoken agreement never to repeat what is said. Not even to their spouses.
The Audience play breaks this contract of silence - and imagines a series of pivotal meetings between the Downing Street incumbents and their Queen. From Churchill to Cameron, each Prime Minister has used these private conversations as a sounding board and a confessional - sometimes intimate, sometimes explosive. In turn, the Queen can’t help but reveal her own self as she advises, consoles and, on occasion, teases. From young mother to grandmother these private audiences chart the arc of the second Elizabethan Age. Politicians come and go through the revolving door of electoral politics, while she remains constant, waiting to welcome her next Prime Minister.
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Helen Mirren famously played Elizabeth II before, in the 2006 film of The Queen for which she won an Oscar and a Golden Globe.
Joining Helen Mirren in The Audience are Michael Elwyn as Anthony Eden, Nathaniel Parker as Gordon Brown, Rufus Wright as David Cameron, Haydn Gwynne as Margaret Thatcher, Edward Fox as Winston Churchill and Paul Ritter as John Major.
The Audience is directed by Stephen Daldry, whose West End credits include Billy Elliot the Musical and An Inspector Calls. His films include Billy Elliot and The Hours.
The Audience is written by Peter Morgan, whose other plays include Frost/Nixon, which premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in 2006 before transferring to the West End, Broadway and was later made into a film. His other film credits include The Damned United, The Last King of Scotland, State of Play and Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.
This is a must see show so get your The Audience theatre tickets today!