The Crown Jewels arrives in New Theatre Cardiff from Tuesday, October 3 to Saturday, October 7 2023 and features the most star-studded cast that Cardiff has seen for years.
WalesOnline spoke with the BAFTA-nominated creator of ITV’s The Durrells and BBC 1’s Men Behaving Badly, and The Crown Jewels writer, Simon Nye to find out more.
Is the play based on a true story?
"Yes, I didn’t know the story but instantly loved its glorious madness. A character called Colonel Blood? Taking on the most engaging and high-wigged of all monarchs, Charles II? The crown jewels of England were guarded only by a 77-year-old ex-soldier who kept them basically in a cupboard.
"There’s more. Blood, already a celebrated wanted felon, did the robbery dressed as a priest, wearing a false beard, assisted by an actress playing his wife. So we’re talking Ronald Biggs assisted by a plucky young Judy Dench."
What is it about this story that you enjoyed translating to stage?
"Let’s just agree now that - despite plague, terrible sanitation and a major fire - this Restoration period, 1660 to, say, 1700 - is simply the best.
"Even more so in theatrical-historical terms; actual women on stage for the first time for centuries - I know, feminism gone mad. Language which fizzed and frothed. Daring innuendo, fops, wigs, outbursts of singing and dancing, and proper jokes, as opposed to the self-conscious Shakespearean version.
"The play is a comedy but stuffed with history you can dazzle friends with. You will learn, for example, that Charles levied a tax on ovens, named three of his sons Charles, and had Cromwell dug up and his head put on a spike.
"I hope I have conveyed how Charles II is pulled in two directions. His natural inclination is to throw off the gloomy shackles of Cromwell’s tenure and preside over a jamboree - the best of all the borees - of artistic freedom, religious tolerance, Euro-cooperation, and sexual joy.
"But he is still wary of and angry about the forces which killed his father and linger in the shadows.
"So Charles is understandably torn when he has to deal with Colonel Blood, who is his kind of louche rogue but has a history of insurrection which needs to be publicly stamped out."
The cast line-up is absolutely knock-out. Al Murray, Mel Giedroyc, Neil Morrisey, Joe Thomas just to name a few! What can an audience expect from the evening?
"My advice if you are about to see The Crown Jewels is laugh at everything, if only to encourage the shyer members of the audience, and the actors.
"It bears out the much-quoted 'comedy is tragedy plus time'. One example of which is Aeschylus, the Greek playwright known coincidentally as the Father Of Tragedy, who died from a tortoise being dropped on his head by an eagle.
"It wasn’t funny at the time but it’s pretty hilarious now. Or was it actually hysterical even at the time and I should ask you to cut this?"
Don't miss out on the opportunity to see The Crown Jewels between Tuesday, October 3 and Saturday, October 7 2023. To book your tickets to see the show at the New Theatre Cardiff, head to the website.
