I’ll start by saying that his was one of the best things I’ve seen for a long time, a truly enjoyable evening in the company of a very talented cast and much enjoyed by a packed audience at Guildford’s newly refurbished Yvonne Arnaud Theatre.
The play, by Daisy Goodwin, revolves around 15 key outfits, each one worn for a specific event in a given year by the woman “who has to be seen to be believed”. The scene starts with a narrator (also The Curator), Gráinne Dromgoole, who gives us a short overview of key moments from the year in question, which range from 1969 to 2022.
Anne Reid plays her late Majesty in older age and what a splendid bit of casting. The likeness is uncanny, and she would have been a shoo-in for playing the lead role had The Crown gone on to feature the late Queen in later life. She lights up the stage like the woman she is playing and gives a terrific performance of the most famous woman in the world.
Caroline Quentin is ‘Gigi’, the Dresser, modelled upon Angela Kelly, who dressed the Queen in real life from 1993 until her death. On stage, they develop quite a close relationship, the ‘girl from Wigan’ getting to be friends with her Majesty, and very protective of her with the Dresser and the Millner. One will never know for sure, but the friendship on show here between two people from very different was probably similar in real life; I’d certainly like to think so. A commanding performance here, and the sadness shown at the end of a long partnership seems very real.
James Wilby is well cast as the Designer, who might well be gay but had a good war, winning the MC and yet remains rather estranged from his father who doesn’t think men should be designing clothes. He also has a certain style, not always in accord with the Dresser’s. He also has a waspish relationship with the Milner, enjoyably played by James Dreyfus; rather camp, from the Australian outback and eager to please. They bicker away playfully and rather delightfully.
Which all makes for a very enjoyable play that goes more quickly than you would like. There are some great laughs, entwined with a bit of pathos and rather moving at the end, when we see in the background the late Queen actually wearing the clothes discussed. Daisy Goodwin’s debut stage play is a triumph.
By Royal Appointment runs at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre until Saturday 2nd August; limited seat availability.
