THEATER IN A NUTSHELL: IN GOOD KING CHARLES'S GOLDEN DAYS

THE BASICS:  This year, the Shaw Festival has revived an obscure, a very late work of Bernard Shaw--as one of just two Shavian offerings (an all time low, I believe).  Good King Charles, a sort of 17th century historical fantasy, has been directed by Eda Holmes, and runs in repetory at the Royal George Theatre through October 9.  The play, if it can truly be called that (see below), clocks in at a whopping three hours, with two intermissions.  You may want to stock up on fiery hard candies.

THUMBNAIL SKETCH:  The first two acts take place in Isaac Newton's study in Cambridge, 1680.  A gaggle of important personages of the later seventeenth century, including King Charles II (travelling not-so-incognito) drop in on the scientist/scholar, and talk.  Politics, science, religion, art, manners--you name it, they discuss it.  Gales of talk, some of it quite witty and stimulating, punctuated by a couple of big physical moments to jolt the potentially drowsy playgoer.   In the third act, the scene shifts to London, where Charles and his much abused Queen, Catherine, reminisce in the privacy of her boudoir.  At this point, it's clear that Shaw wants Charles to be the work's sympathetic focus, but the interchange, as nice as it is, feels tacked on.  Intellectually, there's a sense of resolution at the end of Act II.  Sometimes even a master may not know when to quit!

THE CAST:  Benedict Campbell dominates the proceedings as Charles II, a crafty bon vivant intent on keeping his crown (and his head) in troubled times.  Shaw's Charles, the Open Minded Monach,  is played by Campbell with a slightly glazed worldliness that put me in mind of actor George Sanders.  In contrast to Charles, his brother James, George Fox (founder of the Quakers), painter Godfrey Kneller and Isaac Newton are all Men of Principle--fervent believers in one thing or another, who cannot comprehend or tolerate an opposing point of view.  I particularly enjoyed Ric Reid's gruff, dogged Fox, a man intent on making Friends of everyone from the little housemaid to the King!  As Newton's put-upon housekeeper, Mrs Basham, Mary Haney milks her small part for all it's worth.  It's a very studied performance, but funny for all that.  Of the women in Charles' life, Laurie Paton impresses the most as the pitiable Queen Catherine, a Portuguese noblewoman in a snobbish English court, abandoned for long stretches by the philandering husband she continues to love. 

PRODUCTION VALUES:  Director Eda Holmes does the best she can with a play that has no plot, no strongly engaging characters, no emotional hooks, and no real take-home message.  The costumes by Michael Gianfrancesco are appropriately grand, and make up in part for the rather bleak and colorless sets by Camellia Koo.  More incidental music would have helped.

FINAL THOUGHTS:  The really amazing thing about Good King Charles is that it's engaging at all.  Discarding all the basic principles of playcraft, Shaw, using just his skills in language and philosophy, somehow miraculously carries the day  (although just barely).  A warning: if you have never seen a Shaw play, this is definitely not a good place to start!

RATING:  TWO BUFFALOS.