The queen is dead; long live the king
“King Charles III” is about English royalty, and much of it is written in iambic pentameter, but don’t think musty drama. The show’s first soliloquy refers to frozen food, and one of the characters gets described thus: “It’s what you’ve brought to us. A sense of fashion, better hair as well.”
The better hair belongs to Kate Middleton (Allison Jean White), and its admirer is Prince Charles (Robert Joy), who’s crowned king in Mike Bartlett’s Oliver Award-winning “future history” play, now at the American Conservatory Theater, with a 15-person cast under the direction of David Muse.
If at first the new king is all compliments, he’s soon on his guard; the commoner princess turns out to be the biggest threat to his ascension.
“King Charles III”:
8 p.m. Thursday-Friday, Sept. 22-23; 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 24; 2 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 25. Tuesday-Sunday through Oct. 9. $20$105. ACT’s Geary Theater, 415 Geary St., S.F. (415) 749-2228. www.act-sf.opg