The Mad Gay King Review

The Mad Gay King run at the Kings Head Theatre until 18th October

A good production with potential to be even madder and even gayer.

This review contains spoilers.

The Mad Gay King is Christopher Adams-Cohen's modern day retelling of King Ludwig II, his forceful disposition on the grounds of 'homosexual insanity', and his untimely death.

The play opens with Richard Hornig (David Buttle) stood at the grave of his lover King Ludwig, a year on from his death. He begins with a rousing speech as he stands in front of a tall LED light shaped as a cross; there are three other tall LED pillars that fill the otherwise bare stage. It's an interesting and somewhat moving first image that quickly moves as the cast of four actors unfold this 70 minute story of love and deceit.

This story itself is epic, filled with battles, romance, politics, family feuds, and Adams-Cohen's funny and poetic script delivers on all of these plot points. In fact, I found that I wanted the book to be longer, filled with more triviality, more time to see the inner workings of these characters, to see their real relationships, to see the context in which they're living, as opposed to being told it - the beats all landed, but felt rushed and without breath. Adams-Cohen shows his skill and I have no doubt with the opportunity of a longer running time, he'd be able to provide.

The particular element that I felt missing, was the lack of relationship building from Ludwig (Elijah Ferreira) and Richard Hornig (Buttle). We see the two begin in a purely professional relationship, we see Ferreira convince us of Ludwig's playful attempts to win Hornig over, and we are treated to a breath-taking scene of tension and intimacy as the couple tentatively give themselves over to each other. It's tasteful and alive, and it's clear that Ferreira and Buttle have a great chemistry, but following this scene we are expected to believe that the couple are madly in love, as if having known each other all their lives. It could be that the narrative of the script calls for this, or may be built into Scott Le Crass' direction but I think more development over their relationship and an allowance to see Hornig lower his guard to Ludwig is essential.

Ferreira and Buttle are convincing in their relationship, with what they're given; their physical relationship seems natural, their passion real. Buttle adopts a 'Northern' English accent, reminiscent of John Snow, that separates him from his fellow cast, but is otherwise believable in the role. Ferreira is a very believable performer, perhaps too so for a role of an eccentric or 'mad-man'. There were times I felt he were too present, too real, for me to believe his sudden switches in thoughts and emotion - although, in his speech about the things he can see in the ruins, he was able to transport us with him to the land he could excellently see before him. I wished for more aloofness in his characterisation, though, that would make me believe this outlandish character was truly existing in their own realm. They were supported by dynamic performances from Thom Tuck and Bernadine Pritchett, who multi-roled a variety of characters and accents.

Le Crass' direction is interesting, and he does with the space what he can. Some blocking choices feel rushed and some highlight the limitations of this fringe venue that I think could be measured and implemented with more intention - Buttle collecting a prop from under the audience seating, actors abruptly ending an emotion-driven scene so as to instantly move an LED light to create a new space. Perhaps they could play more with the Brechtian styling and have the four actors never leave the performance space, or perhaps they could've utilised the thrust dynamic of the space more, rather than playing as if in proscenium. The world is the oyster for a director who showed prowess, and I'd hope as the piece developed, the direction could take more interesting shapes.

Sharing the space with Kings Head Theatre's Buyer and Cellar (starring Rob Madge) is no mean fit for this late night fringe production. The set of Madge's 'one-performer show' is covered in black curtain, with their herringbone floor still visible but befitting the stately palace of eccentric King Ludwig II. The four LED pillars are utilised very well by lighting designer Joseph Bryant, at points. In the final scene, the slow fading as Ludwig walks towards death was exceptionally effective, but lots of the transitions between colours and intensity felt clunky and harsh.

One member of the creative team truly ruling their domain was sound designer J Aria whose score was rousing and emotional, contemporary but seamless as it portrayed the inner workings of the characters, covered scene transitions, and contextualised hilarious party sequences or a beautiful first dance.

On the whole, The Mad Gay King is a good play that could be developed into an excellent piece of theatre. The story is epic, this production not so.